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The Bain Of My Existence

Every time we come to Kampala it seems we “need” to get play dough. But the play dough gets everywhere, and most times doesn’t even make it back home. If it does make it home it gets everywhere. I mean everywhere, stuck to the floors, tables, chairs. And every time we go through the “I promise this time I won’t get it everywhere” conversation. But, as my husband says, I am a sucker when it comes to play dough in Kampala. When we come here it is our time to have a break from everyone and relax. That is…everyone except Raelee! Don’t get me wrong, we love her! She is most times the entertainment and joy we need on the bad days we have. But as a parent you know that sometimes you need a break, quiet time or dinner without being interrupted two hundred times! This is where the play dough comes in! She will sit for hours in the hotel playing with it. She watches YouTube videos with people creating cakes out of play dough, or clothes for Barbies. So even though every time before I have said “This is the last time if you don’t keep it all together” I give in! I decided this time that I won’t even say it anymore! I think maybe it’s a good thing to just limit it to Kampala trips so it keeps her busy every time – and then leave it in Kampala! “What happens in Kampala stays in Kampala”!

 

 

This Week

It’s been a little over a week since my last post, hope family and friends in the States had a happy 4th! We have had a pretty calm week, still building cages, working on crops – the sunflowers are about ready to cut down, much to my dismay! But since the rains have still been coming pretty steady throughout the week I think we are going to go ahead and plant more. They grow so fast!

I was not feeling well last weekend so Christian and Raelee did the cooking for two days. She loves to cook, he not so much so I was very appreciative that he did it with her! Chicken strips and french fries – so good! (Even better when I don’t have to cook them!)

We have been having a “situation” with the parking ticket lady. Whenever you go to town, you have to pay for parking. This does not apply to the bank parking lot or the supermarket we go to that has their own parking lot. But, if you park anywhere else on the street you can expect to pay. It’s not much but, if you park on one side of the street, run in somewhere and then park across the street you will get to pay both times! In Jinja we buy a handful of little tickets at a time and give those out. I think much of the money gets pocketed because the ticket takers are all the time begging us to buy a handful more! So, we have in the past bought a monthly parking sticker for 30,000 shillings a month. (Parking one time is 3-4,000 shillings). But since March we have not bought parking stickers because 1) the truck hardly goes to town since we got the car and 2) since buying the car we hadn’t gone to town except to the bank. Then in May our car was wrecked. So why pay 60,000/mo for two vehicles that aren’t even going to town? Make sense to you? The parking sticker lady has called Christian about every other day for over a month now “demanding” we pay her for the missed months and get caught up. She put her supervisor on the phone the other day because they don’t think we are understanding what they are telling us! We understand. We understand that buying a monthly sticker is voluntary, we are under no obligation to buy one every month. We understand that now whoever gets the previously “owed” money will pocket it. So we were at the bank on Wednesday and the supervisor (do they have spies watching the bank?) came to the truck demanding the money we “owe”. Christian explained we are not paying money for something we haven’t used. We have not had the car for over a month, and the truck has only come to town three times in the past month. To the bank and the supermarket – no pay places. When someone here is not happy with what you are saying they either say “So what do we do now?” The supervisor kept saying “So, what is your decision?” This went on for ten minutes, he wasn’t happy with our decision and I guess thought he would change it if he just persisted. He even went so far as to say that because his people know we have a sticker each month that will confuse them and they won’t get money from us. THEY CAN’T ANYWAY…WE.HAVE.NOT.COME.TO.TOWN in three months! Chris stayed involved in the conversation a lot longer than I did! He asked the guy “If you weren’t using the sticker would you pay almost 200,000?” Finally, we told him that when the car is fixed we are going to get our monthly sticker again (even though we won’t need it) but we aren’t doing that for the truck since it will barely leave the property.) Appeased and I guess finally resigned to the fact we weren’t going to give him any money he finally left. We were waiting to meet someone at the bank, and no sooner had the supervisor left than the woman came to the door! Christian cut her off saying the supervisor had just left and we had talked to him about it but she still tried to go through the whole situation again. We told her we had to go and couldn’t sit and talk to her about it. When we get our car back we will pay for a sticker. It may not seem like a lot of money, but who would pay for something you aren’t going to use? And especially knowing that the “back payment” is only going in someone’s pocket? I have to say though, the lady has been pretty persistent in trying to threaten us!

We are in Kampala getting some supplies and to finally sign insurance papers for the car. We got a quote from a shop other than Toyota (they wanted almost as much as we paid for the car to fix two doors!) and it is a little scary handing our car over to a garage here. We are praying the doors open and close and are the same color as the rest of the car. (You laugh but one or the other is so likely to happen!) We are praying that it is all fixed and ready to go before our mission team comes the first week of August. We are cutting it close! (They don’t have rental car companies here – actually they do have cars for “hire” but you may as well buy a car rather than pay that cost!)

Hope you have had a good week and happy holiday!

For The Neglected!

Some days it is easier for me to send photos to Facebook than to make a blog post, I am sorry to those who follow me on here but not FB!

The rains have slowed down but we have had good crops on our property. We planted sunflowers, hay, dandelions, two other kinds of grasses that are good for rabbits. A plant called dodo that people eat like collard greens. We first did test plots – A. Dodo with no fertilizer B. Dodo with rabbit fertilizer and C. Fertilizer all the farmers here use. The dodo that was planted and fertilized with rabbit fertilizer grew, was harvested, planted again before any of the other two plots had gotten six inches tall! We have about an acre planted with various plants that will be fed fresh or dried for pellet food for bulls, goats and rabbits. We should have planted more sunflowers! All parts of the plant is good for the rabbits and seeds will be ground up and put in the pellets.

A solar pump is in the works for the well in back of the property. It will fill tanks for the rabbit house, for the bulls and be used for drip irrigation so that we can grow even through the dry season. It’s been busy around here!

Can you find Raelee?!

Lawnmowers Rock!

We have five acres of grounds to care for, upkeep is a lot of work. We are thankful for the help we have – three full-time groundskeepers and one that is here for a few months. But now with at least an acre planted with crops it has become too much for them. By the time they make it to the back of the property, the front is already grown up. And weeding the crops has taken up a lot of their time. So we thought instead of hiring some more workers we would buy them lawnmowers! Slashing is how they normally cut grass here and I can’t even watch them do it all day – it seems back breaking to me! No, these mowers don’t have engines but they are thrilled all the same. We were concerned with safety, don’t want anyone to cut their feet off! What would have taken them all day only took about an hour and a half today! There is some that will have to be slashed down a little first, it is too thick, but I’m sure they will have all of the front and part of the backyard finished tomorrow!

It did take them a bit to get going good, and Christian told them that if it seemed to miss any, one could mow behind the other and get the missed parts. After they got the hang of it, it was mowing pretty good but one still followed right behind the other! Oh well, they either figure it out or don’t! They are happy!

Now we pray they take care of them and maybe they will last a little while!

Serving The Least Of These

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

In this video I used pictures I have taken, because this is the world I live in. These are the people and places that I serve. God called us out of the blue to come here and serve as His hands and feet to His children, to bring them to Him. People say they admire us and don’t think they could do what we have done – leave everything behind and go to a place where everything is so different. We are just trying to be obedient to what God has told us to do. We have this calling on our lives.

But what about you? God may never call you to a third world country, but He does call you to serve right where you are. To look outside yourself and around at those you interact with everyday. There are those who are hurting and thirsty for Living Water even when they don’t know it, you can point them to the only One that can heal them and quench their thirst. Sometimes just a kind word can change a heart, lift spirits and turn someone around from the trouble they are headed. YOU can be the love of Jesus in their day or even their life.

Those that are hungry and seek to fill that hunger with the things of this world, with drugs, with everything but God. They need the Word of God to feed them, we as Christ followers are to represent Him and share with them His Word, direct them to the places they can be fed.

Clothe the naked has to do (my opinion) with dignity, how we should treat the “least of these”. The down and out, those who people have put aside, deemed unworthy of respect and help. The homeless that have mental illnesses, the veterans that can’t get work because of the things they have seen in war and the injuries that they got protecting our freedom. “And if not for the grace of God there go I”. There are too many people getting government money for free, but there are also too many one step away from that because they can’t hold things together with their minimum wage jobs that they work hard for. Dignity and respect for others no matter their income level, race, culture, religion or sex.

Visit the sick. Do you know how many people are in nursing homes – both young people who are sick and the elderly –  that have no one that visits them? We’ve been to many nursing homes through the years and it would break my heart to see the lonely and broken-hearted that have no one to comfort them. The same with hospitals. We should visit the sick, whether in those places or our neighbors and co-workers, help others at a time of need. Many church members just expect the Pastor to do all the visiting. I don’t see that in this verse, I believe Jesus was talking to all of us.

We probably have the hardest time with visiting those in prison. I think that before God moved us here this was a calling God placed on me. It’s not the most pleasant thing to do for me, it breaks my heart to see men and women who really never had a chance from the beginning of their lives end up where they are. Of course there are just evil people in prisons but you would be surprised at how many never had a loving family, came from abuse, or just made a stupid split second decision that changed their life forever. When we were involved with prison ministry the men and women connected with us because we understood that God’s Grace is the only reason we are not where they are. You may not have lived a life like Christian and I have so ministering to prisoners may not be your calling. If you have and God changed your life then I urge you to pray about it. If you have skills that could help someone when they get out, give your time for them. If you know of church groups, half way homes or counselors. I believe it is important to not only share the gospel with them but to give them something they can use when they get out to live a better life. “I will pray for you” doesn’t go very far when they walk out the doors with twenty dollars and nowhere to go but back to the life they knew before.

Everyone has a calling on their lives, serving those around us wherever God has placed us. Where you are right now is not an accident, and the people who cross your path are not coincidences. Ask Him today how He would have you be His hands and feet right where you are. As the scripture goes “Bloom where you are planted”.

*The song is Kings & Queens from the same titled CD by Audio Adrenaline

** The video quality may not be the best, I made it a small file and still took two days to load!

National Heroes Day

Today is Uganda National Heroes Day, a day to honor all those who sacrificed themselves to better the lives of the Ugandan people. But there is great debate about who is honored and what constitutes a hero. Many of the heroes officially recognized by the government are fallen soldiers who died during the civil war here in the 1980s. Because the people of Uganda still grieve and carry the painful memories of crimes committed by both sides against the people, there is no widespread agreement as who should be honored.
This might be why I was told it is a day to honor whoever you call your hero. This person said Nelson Mandella was a hero, to which I agree. I think a hero is someone who will sacrifice their life for another, and that is why we have Memorial Day in the States. Jesus is my hero because He sacrificed His life for mine even though I didn’t deserve His love. No one does. I also think those that have been martyred for their faith are heroes, they sacrificed their lives telling of the love Jesus has for everyone if they will only accept Him.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13
Just under Jesus is my hero on this earth for He shows me the love of Jesus always, no matter how difficult I may be. He has been my greatest example of Jesus love. He personifies 1 Corinthians 13:4 –
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy;
love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
For the past seventeen years he has taught me so much about the characteristics of Jesus just by the way he lives his life. And has helped my faith to grow everyday. He is one gift I will be eternally grateful for.
Who is your hero?

We had a good day Sunday, there were more visitors to Bible study with Christian, three women. We believe that class is growing because God is getting ready to do new things with our Sundays! We are praying it grows into a service but are waiting on God’s timing on how to do that. In this muslim culture, men are not used to worshipping with women and when we first got here there were no men in the church services. They also have a hard time with having singing with the Word of God. So we wait on God to grow this small group while teaching them His Word. The new women that came asked Christian to pray with them and also asked if he could get them bibles.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

I had a bigger than usual older class and am very excited and encouraged about it. Not only were there more older children there, even the newcomers participated! We are learning all about the Bible, including memorization of the books of the Bible. When they have memorized the books they will receive their very own Bible. There was a lot of excitement among them and I am glad. I believe the ones that really want to learn more about God will work hard to get one and will appreciate and take care of it. My prayer is all of them get one!

We also have a new addition to our Sunday School service, Isaiah. He is living here in the village and working for us and with us. At least until November, for six months he travels with a ministry we met, the founders of it are from Alaska. They go to villages all over Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and more for six months doing children’s ministry. They stay for about a week doing a school, I guess it would be comparable to our vacation Bible school in the States. We are happy to have him, a very sweet and quiet young man. He has jumped right in to helping out wherever he sees a need, whether he is asked or not. I have a feeling I will be sad when he has to leave! We are thankful that we have been given the opportunity to look out for him while the rest of his team is off doing other things. He came to Christ a few years ago and his family disowned him and chased him out of his village. He really has no family to go home to when their time of travel and ministry is over for the year so we were asked if we could look out for him and put him to work – they would pay his salary but they care so much for him that they didn’t want to leave him to fend for himself. He says we are a blessing to him but already he is becoming the blessing to us!

Hope you all have a blessed week, pray for us as we try and get our car situation sorted out! We have so much work here to do and have to travel back and forth to Kampala at least once this week (in a wrecked car).