Murchison Falls

So I just returned from Murchison Falls. WOW... It was fantastic. I met some awesome people and I saw some AMAZING sights.

For those of you who are unaware I am not one to be speechless but really I don't know how to put the over all place into words. I can tell you some random things but the moral of the story is... I am very glad that God has an incredible imagination. How anyone could say that 2781 species of antelope all could live in the same place by evolution and each is the MOST adapted? That is just tom foolery. I am not here to argue with you though... that's your business not mine.

So I arrived at the Red Chili, the hotel/tour company I went with on Monday evening. The place made me dizzy. I walked in and it was mzungus from wall to wall. They were all eating and drinking and what have you... There was only one way in which this was slightly like my daily life of late... only about 5% of them were speaking my language in conversation amongst themselves.

I promptly retreated to my living quarters; shared with 17 people from Sweden who were leaving the hotel at 4 AM. That was AWESOME... then when I did wake up for real I wondered around awkwardly until the vans were preparing to leave for Murchison. We then left and in the bus load of 14 people the role call went as follows: 4 Germans (the two daughters had spent a year in Kumi doing missions work at a hospital and teaching a bible study), 2 French, 1 Norwegian (Doing humanitarian work mostly in Gulu, the area most hit by LRA), 1 Washington DC (doing AIDs testing in Mbale area), 5 Texans (their church partners with a feeding program, like an orphanage without the beds just the food, in Jinja), and one Iowan (I think you know about this guys shenanigans). The fellow who drove our tour van was Medi, he grew up in Jinja, has been driving these tours and does guiding of the Murchison falls tours for four years.

We there were 8 of us that hung out quite a bit of the time. Sarah from Norway, Thorston from DC, the Texans and I. We had a good time. My tent mate was Roger. He is the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Archer City, Texas. We had some very good discussions at night.

We had some interesting encounters with tsi tsi flies. They hurt when they bite, not that I know first hand but that is the word on the street from the female type people who did get bitten. Medi told us that they don't cause African Sleeping Sickeness anymore. Thorston, Mr CDC himself confirmed that it had been 3 years since the last reported case.

I can't really describe seeing giraffes, elephants, antelopes, lions, etc. it was awesome but words can't really describe it.

The last day we went to the actual falls. It was fantastic. The falls are on the Nile. The river goes through a 7 meter hole. It therefore gets a bit excited as it does this. The water produces a rainbow or two. It was gorgeous.

We then came home. I think this is the lamest blog post in the history of the world.

In other news in the taxi to Mbale from Kampala I slept for part of the journey, and when I woke up the three ladies in the back seat were singing hymns in Luganda. It was pretty awesome.

To Katakwi and Beyond!

This weekend I went to Katakwi. That was an adventure. On Sunday I we went to a church about an hour from Katakwi by motorcycle. Robert drove us on the town PAG's motorcycle. There were 3 of us on it. That was cozy. When we returned to Katakwi we attempted to find a car going back to Soroti but there were none. So I rode a motorcycle for another 2 hours to Soroti. That was MOST fun. All this while I had about 10 kilos on my back. I was very tired and very dirty when I got back to Soroti, and Mbale. I then took a taxi to Mbale.

When I reached Kumi (just over half way back to Mbale) the farm manager got on my taki. That was quite the coincidence; of all the taxis going by she happens to find the one I'm in... ok no one else finds that interesting. I'll keep moving.

When we were about 15 kilometers outside of Kumi we came upon an accident. You see the remnants of many accidents as you move around, but this one was pretty fresh. We went by just in time to see a yong man's body being tossed into the back of a truck. That was ... abrasive to the mind... The farm manager had heard that the driver of the taxi had attempted to dodge a pot hole and the man was riding a bicycle and had also swerved and the two had collided. It is almost surprising that it does not happen more often. Sad day...

So about Katakwi...

This is the very edge of the Ateso area. This is relevant for a number of reasons. When the Lord's Resistance Army were doing the insurgency thing; this was the area that was hit. The LRA came from the north so there were more problems and things farther north but they got to Katakwi. They also border the Karamajong. In the past the Karamoja (and still some but it was worse in the past) would do cattle raids. I have mentioned previously that the Karamajong believe(d) that all the cows belong to them. Therefore if someone else has a cow they stole it from the Karamajong. So they would come and take all the cows, other animals, and what ever else they might desire and leave the people with nothing.

Robert (the student I was visiting) had to move because the place he lived was overrung by Karamajong. George William (resident of Kapalebyong, and I visited him a couple of weeks back) also spoke of losing all he had to the Karamoja. This is kind of a problem.... But they deal with it and move on.

In other news... Sara and I went to one of the lecturer's wife's schools this morning (Michael Nangi's wife Phoebe). That was interesting. She teaches P1... I think its P1... Anyways... Her students are ages 6-11. That would be fun... if she did not have 157 students in her class. That is just insane.

So we road bodas there. It was quite a ways... up a hill... a very bad road. I got a little nervous a few times. On a very steep portion my boda driver killed his motorcycle. Then it started to roll backwards. That was exhilarating, but we got there safe and sound. We then had breakfast at the guest house at the school.

The school was founded by Jews. There are still Jews there. Quite a few of them. They have an African Rabi and everything. When we were in the guest house -wow the biggest bumblebee (at least it looked like a bumblebee) EVER just took a vagabondage through my room- it was all decorated with Star of David's, all the door posts had scripture scrolls, and the people there wore yamakas. That was interesting to see. Then we greeted all the children in each of the classes.

That was interesting. You said good morning, and they all replied in unison "Good morning madam/sir" that was rather funny. We then sat in Phoebe's class for a while. She does have one other teacher helper person, but still that would be crazy.

Other facts about the school. They had 103 of the 157 students there today, and on Friday they had 98. Pheobe explained that it is difficult to get students there every day since they don't serve food there. They are there from 8 AM to 1 PM or 5 PM (I didn't really understood who stayed how long) and they get breaks for meals and for "break tea" but they didn't serve any. She also mentioned that students were more plentiful during mango season, because then they were more likely to find some mangoes to eat during the day.

I am leaving this afternoon to go to Kampala, and then Murchison Falls. This is the biggest game park in Uganda. I will be there until Thursday.

Soroti Adventure

So I just got back from Soroti from a weekend with Emmanuel Okwalinga. The most common name is Emmanuel (Emma for short). There are I think 4 in our compound... at least... and there are only like 50 people, right now there are only like 10 people and only 1 is Emma, but when the students are here there is a plethora.
So I was in Soroti town. I got there on Saturday morning. I met Emma and ate breakfast and walked around town a little bit. We then went to the guest house where I'd be staying. I stayed at the guest house which belongs to the Soroti Town PAG church. I after we had lunch we went to a wedding introduction. That was a VERY interesting experience.

We were supposed to leave at noon to arrive at one, when the deal was supposed to start. I we actually left at two, and arrived at 3. The deal did not start until about 6. The delay was due to waiting for the groom and his team to arrive. Noce that it was supposed to start at 1 and conclude at 6, and when it starts at 6 it creates a problem. It is dark long before 11, and since we are out in the village there is no electricity.

So the groom and his people arrive, about 100 of them. They then have to pay a fine to the bride's family for being late. (This money just goes on top of the dowry I suppose.) Once the fine is settled the groom's team leader, or spokesman for the evening is allowed to cut the ribbon and enter the place. Each of the groom's team is marked with a ribbon as they enter.

After they are all seated, the Master of Ceremonies gives an overview of the programme. They also make it known that it will be shortened due to the delay of the groom. Then the bride's family welcomes everyone and does introductions. They introduce all the family, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc... Then a half hour later the groom's family does the same thing. Then the clan spokesman for each family give the official okay to the wedding. Then the LC 1 (the lowest local government official) gives his welcome and okays it all. Then we are about an hour into the ceremony. Then we have the introduction of the bride.

This is not just here is So Andso. That would be too easy. The whole idea is that the groom's family has come to get someone and the host's are not sure who, so they have to find this woman, and make sure that they have come to the proper location. SO... it is done in this way... The MC says that they have sent the "Auntie" out to find the woman that the groom is looking for. The auntie then brings out like 8 or so young girls. They kneel waiting to be chosen. The groom's team comes out and inspects them looking for Ikakiror (which is Ateso for name). Not finding her there they send the girls away with the auntie. Before they leave the auntie says that they will have to hire drivers to bring them home blah blah... so the groom has to pay them each some money to leave. Then they bring out some older ones... same thing they inspect and pay, then they leave. Then they bring out the old ladies, same thing... then they brought out like 20 girls of the proper age category. They then select her from this group... and the villagers rejoice.

Then all the girls go back inside, and then like 10 men from the groom's side get up and go up to a table and walk around it. Then one of them (they hide who does it) puts an envelope on the table. This envelope holds the dowry money. The men go back and sit down. The women come back out and then they walk around the table repeatedly. Then the bride takes the envelope. This mean she accepts. If she doesn't take the envelope it means the fellow is out of luck.

Then the women go back inside, and then come back out (all of this is going to music, so it is half walked/half danced... so they have a song for each portion which slows things down considerably). They then must find the groom in the group of the groom's family. Then when they do the villagers rejoice. Then they introduce each other. Then a preacher gives a short sermon.

Then the villagers rejoice and every one eats. By this time it was dark. This made eating an adventure, because I couldn't see what I was eating, I was also eating with my hands. This made the bits of liver that I found an interesting surprise from time to time...

Then we went back to town and got up to preach the next morning. Then after church we went to this pork place with the pastor and elders. It was good. There were 6 of us, and they brought us out a huge tray of pork with Irish potatoes and onions and what not, all cooked up together. No silverwear and no individual plates. It was very tastey. I was not a big fan of the pieces that were near the outside of the pig. They had a small amount of meat then a layer of fat followed by the skin, that was... special...

We then went to a crusade that was under a mango tree. The mango tree was home to about 54654984 bats. That was... special... The crusade was interesting. I gave my testimony and greeted everyone in Ateso. That was funness. There was a Minister of Parliament there. He talked a little. Had them play his favorite song and forced me to come out and dance with him. That too was... special...

I then came back to Mbale on Monday. I arrived and found that I had lost my key to my room. This was not good. There was not a spare. Luckily I had my laptop with me and stuff, so I had things to do, just to clean clothes to wear. Then yesterday we were going to break the lock but just before we did that the taxi driver called me and said he had found them. On Monday Emma (the cook Emma), and I had gone to town and talked to the taxi people. They had found the driver but he had said that it was not there. I was very relieved because to break the lock and replace it, it woulce have cost about 35 dollars. I am glad I did not have to pay that.

Mountains and Stuff

So today I climbed the big hill outside of Mbale. I did this with 4 Americans from the group I met in Kampala last weekend. This was a good time. Let me start with yesterday though, I feel that is a better place to start.

Yesterday was Thursday, my least busy day of the week, and Julius Okelany calls and tells me that I should come to Nabumali where he and that team is doing a mission. They are doing door to door evangelism and then a crusade. I decided to go, but it was difficult to get out of the compound because the students are finishing their exams and the 2nd year students were leaving. So I finally got out of here and made it there in time for part of the crusade. So Julius sees me arrive and comes over and greets me and says that he wants me to come up front and greet everyone and say something. I said that I didn't need to speak and that he was going to do a great job without me. Then he tried to get Grace (an American) to do it and she also declined. Roughly 3 minutes later as I was talking to some people he says, "and here is my friend David who wants to share something with you all."

I really didn't know I had anything to share... so I had to come up with something quickly... That was fun. Thanks for that one Julius.

Then I came back home. Today he calls me again and says that they are all coming to town and I should meet them there. He then lets me know when they get to town, and again it takes me a while to get out of the compound because I am also saying goodbye to all of the students. I finally reach town and meet up with them and find out that they are planning on going to climb the hill/mountain/rock... thing...

So Julius and I rush to the school, I change clothes and eat quickly since Mary had already prepared my lunch. We then went to Nabumali Center, about 30 minutes from Mbale Town. We get there and I then... have to eat lunch again. It was okay, I got to serve myself so I could actually take a small amount. We then hung out there for a while, and finally left for the hill at about 4:30 ish.

Meanwhile I met one of the missions team from Kamapala whose name is Ivan. He is a pretty cool cat (with a little bit of this, and a little bit of that)(that outburst will only amuse those persons from SW Iowa, who participated in, or know the song/dance thing from 4H Junior camp). I was talking to him and found he was from Amuria district, and that is when I showed him my Ateso skills. He was then in shock and awe. That was fun.

Then we went to the hill, and started climbing. Since we were near to it the climb was a steep one. It was very tiring, we had a local guide who lived on the top so his pace was FAST. So we nearly were running up this ginormous hill. There were waterfalls, and cliffs and what have you. It was very pretty. I took many pictures. When we were nearing the top it got a bit sketchy. We got to a place where the only way up was ladders (or rock climbing, since we had no rope we took the ladder). The first ladder was about 20ish feet and was made of metal. We asked and found that it was installed in the 1960s. This didn't really make me feel better, but when two old ladies climbed the ladder, one with a bunch of something on her head.... I couldn't let her out do me. So I went up.

Ivan would ask how I was doing (most of the time in Ateso) and he would respond that he was not doing well. "Teso land" is very flat and he was not a fan of the hill.

The next two ladders were made of wood. They were both more secure and more nerve wracking all at the same time. I did enjoy it when I made it to the top though. The view was awesome, and it was just fun to see. The whole climb, up and down, the children were running along beside us like it was flat. We decided that going to and from school that way would make you pretty used to it.

The way back down was harder. My legs had worked hard enough going up that they were confused working the other direction going back down. All the rocks were much slipperier going down than up. I was a bit nervous more than once.

We made it down safe and sound. We then got back to Nabumali, and I stayed there a few minutes and then reached the school, where Mary was waiting for me.

She was not happy to see how dirty my jeans were though. She wanted to know if I'd been fighting... she was only kidding but it was still funny.

Emma had prepared my supper, which was my second chicken. I no longer have animals in Uganda, but they were tasty. On a related subject, when I eat rice with my hands I almost always wind up with some in my sinuses which is precisely where I do not like my rice to be.

Bed time, I leave for Soroti early in the morning.

Love you, I think... I guess I don't really know who you are... anybody could read this... but since your creepin on me and showing at least a passing interest in my adventures... sure I will love you...

Admitting is the first step.

So, this weekend in Kampala I have found out that I infact have a problem. I know that you have known I have many problems for a very long time, BUT this one is new to me. (If you would like to report other problems that you are aware of but I am, just get the proper forms and return them to my secretary, signed in triplicate, notarized, and filed 3 months prior to the date you would like action to be taken.) ... I digress...

So there I was in Kampala walking down the street, and I was ensnared by an aroma that happened to waft across my path. This aroma happened to be that wonderful smell that ocurs on the premises of coffee shops. This aroma has always been a favorite of mine. In fact when I needed to be productive at school I would leave my apartment and go to a coffee shop. This means that the last couple of weeks of school I was in at Cafe Diem more often than my apartment. This also means that my coffee drink intake was high.

So as I was walking and this aroma captured me, I'm not sure what happened next... its kind of a blur, but the next thing I remember is sitting in the coffee shop ordering an iced mocha. Yes I got ice, coffee, and chocolate all at the same magical moment. It was lovely. (For those concerned about my healthy I made sure that the ice was boiled, or the water was boiled before taking on the form of crystalline wonderfulness.)

So Julius also had one of these. He was not a big fan. In fact he thought I was crazy for being so excited about it, but excited I was.

Then we continued to journey around Kampala. It was good we went all over the place and saw many things, bought things we didn't need because, well... it seemed like a good idea at the time.

In other news Kampala is MUCH more western than Mbale,or the rest of Uganda that I have been. There are some places that you would guess that you are in the US. Large shopping centers complete with escalators and shoe stores that have new shoes of assorted varieties, looking much like the US stores. (In one of these stores there was a coffee shop, I accidentally got more coffee there. Julius was lost and I found that place so I got more to pass the time until he was found.)

So I was just talking to Julius about how much like the US Kampala is as we were going to have our lunch. He ordered because... that is what he likes to do... So the food comes. Matooke, rice, and casava with a red sauce over it. I thought that it was peices of soya (similar to tofu but with more texture), then I asked him about half way through the plate what kind of sauce it was. (Reminder: We were just talking about how western things in Kampala can be.) He said it was "uva" or something like that, and I asked what that was. (For you Spanish speakers, or non Spanish speakers, I thought... this is not grapes (uvas = grapes.) He said oh, its intestines...

OH... uh... alright... it really tasted pretty good. The texture seemed much stranger as I finished eating. Note to self... Self, don't ask what you're eating until you have finished eating it.

Then I went back to the hotel I was staying at, I was very tired... I went to bed... failed to sleep, tried to read, tried to sleep, played on my computer, tried to sleep, called my parents, tried to sleep... The last time I looked at the clock it was just after 5 AM. I then got up at 6:30 to get ready for church.

The moral of this story is that after 2 months without coffee, DO NOT take coffee drinks with a total of 4 shots of espresso in the afternoon. You will not be very able to sleep. Looking back I would say it was probably worth it... they were amazing...

So the reason to go to Kampala was to work on importing soybeans right? Right. So that failed... Contrary to my previous conversations with the people, now I don't just need the papers, but a research plan submitted to a research institute and then approved by them. They need to oversee the research. The crop needs to be grown for 2 season before the seeds can be increased.

This is precisely what the school not equipped/willing to do.

Then I preached at a church just outside of Kampala on Sunday. Walked back to town, where Julius had a meeting at 3. At about 5:45 the meeting started. Julius and I then gave an orientation to Mbale. There is a mission here this week with door to door evangelism and a crusade every evening. There are about 12-15 mzungus from the US that are taking part in this. We told them what it was like here... It is good that one of my spiritual gifts is doing things not according to a plan, because plans are generally not what people go by. Example: the people were supposed to leave for Mbale at 9:00 AM. Julius called me at 5:00 PM. They were just leaving Mbale.

After the meeting I went to the taxi park to get a taxi to Mbale. The taxi did not leave until about 8:00. I got to Mbale at 12:30. I was very tired, remember how I got 1.5 hours of sleep the night before.

Then yesterday we made no bake cookies. That was fun. People were quite confused with what it was (it doesn't look all that appetizing), but after trying it they liked it very much. Boniface was not all that excited about it. He asked if he was going to get diabetes from it. Note: he had about 1 ounce of cookie.

NOW, I must go get ready for my discipleship class. I'm glad that you have made it through this post. I should have perhaps built in an intermission, but that would have had to happen at a tense moment, and since rambling is never tense, there is no place for it. I suppose we'll have to just live with the narcolepsy inducing nature that my blog is famous for.

A Weekend in The Village

For the record I was going to post this on Monday morning, but the internet was down until about now. So I am doing it now.

On Friday I made Chapati with Mary. That was a good time. Directly following that I packed up and shipped off to the home of George William. We left right at 11:00 AM. We then took a bus to Soroti. From Soroti we took a truck to Oditel Trading Center. This is in the Kapelebyong sub county. Then we took a motorcycle to George's house. We arrived there at roughly 7:30 PM. That a long journey, at the end of which I was rather hungry since we didn't lunch in that time.

George's home has 2 sets of houses. His parents live about 100 yards from his place. Each set of buildings has about 4-6 structures. His guest house is located where his parents stay. That is where Julius and I stayed. We shared a mosquito net. It was exciting, and in other news I believe that the mosquito net was actually more useful for keeping out the frogs. When we woke up on Saturday we had 5 frogs, and 6 on Sunday morning. They were just hopping around our house. I think they were Julius's guests.

During our nights together Julius gave me intensive Ateso lessons. I am quite sure that if I spent more time in the village I would be quite proficient by time I left. I have many more phrases now than I did when I left.

Then on Saturday Julius biked into Oditel to... well now that I mention it I have no idea what he did, but he returned at about noon. Meanwhile, back at the ranch... I hope someone in my audience knows the childrens book that just ADHD'd its way into this blog post... ANYWAY... While Julius was pedaling to town and back, George William and I walked around Apedu village.

About villages: So a village is a distinct portion of land. Apedu is 2 KMx4 KM. There are multiple villages in a parish, a number of parishes in a subcounty, and so on up to districts. This division of land would put itself analogous to either a township or a section. The village is not a group of families living together, it is like our rural, country, sort of idea. There are houses and then another down the path another KM or what ever.

We walked around, and he greeted all of the neighbors and things, he also checked his crops. Then we returned to his house, and prepared for our Saturday "Programme." We ate prior to leaving. We then walked to GW's sister's house, but she was not there. We then went to see if she was at the neighbor's house, but alas she was not there either. Then we were out of time and went to the location for our preaching. Then we ate again, the exact same thing we had eaten an hour before. Chicken soup and atapa (sp?)(Casava flour and millet flour in a large sticky brown lump)(It is mystifyingly chewy and gritty all at the same time)(The chewy is similar to like bread dough, and then as if there were sand in the bread dough). I do like those things though, so it is OKAY.

Then after eating we waited for the people to arrive. They had announced it to begin at 2. We arrived at 3:30 and we were the first ones there. We waited until about 4:15. We started with about 20 people, we had about 50 by the end. It was my first church service held under a tree. It was nice.

Then we went back to GW's place, we ate and talked, then went to bed. Bed occurs early in the village. Since there is no electricity, there is not a lot to do after dark.

On Sunday we got up, ate plain rice for breakfast, and then journeyed into Oditel. This was more challenging than we had planned. The motorcycle that dropped us off was supposed to pick us up. He was there in time to have breakfast with us, that went perfectly. He left with GW. Julius and I waited.... and waited... and an hour later GW calls. The motorcycle broke down just outside of Oditel. They had sent bicycles to get us, and we should start walking. (Note that the only motorcycle in the town was now broken down.)

We got to church just in time for me to preach. I did so. Then we were escorted to the elder's house who lived right outside the church. We ate chicken and rice, and then were about to leave after a good time of fellowship, then he said we should stop and greet the pastor on our way out of town.

If I had known that I was going to be forced to eat a second lunch, I would have more firmly resisted the amount of food the host forced on me in the first lunch. So 1 minute 23 seconds after eating copious amounts of chicken and rice, I sat down to just as much beef and rice. Then a bottle of coke. (The soda is in glass bottles, so those older readers will more likely understand this. As I was drinking the aforementioned coke the carbonation got all caught up with me and forced a backup of soda to come out my nose. This was not amazing.)

Then we road the motorcycle down cow infested roads to Amuria, a journey of roughly 40 minutes.

We then took a car to Soroti, then a taxi to Mbale. OH WAIT!!!!

HOW COULD I FORGET!

As I was about to leave on Sunday morning GW's mother gave me a chicken because she had wanted to cook it for me but had failed to do so because of a lack of time. Then GW's wife said that she had one tied up in the house for me, so as I left, I left with 2 chickens, and all of the journey I just told you about, the 2 chickens were with us.

So that was my weekend. PS today we ate one of the chickens. She was nice.

On Friday I believe I am going to go to Kampala to go back to the Ministry of Agriculture (So here is a confession; when I was writing, and when I say, Ministry of Agriculture I almost always nearly say/write Ministry of Magic. I know, I am a nerd.). I may stay there with Julius (A different one than I spent my weekend with.).

This, That, and Copius Ramblings

So, I apologize that you I have gone almost a whole week without talking to you all. I know that you are all waiting on the edge of your seat. This sounds uncomfortable, so I suggest that you stop doing that.

I have been slightly busy this week. On Sunday I did not go anywhere, well not to any far off village. I went to church with Daniel, Absalom/Solomon, and George William. We went to a suburb/section of Mbale (I'm not sure what you would call it. Probably suburb...), called Namakwekwe (Nah-mah-kway-kway). I only share this with you because it is very fun to say. Give it a try. Yeah I thought that you would enjoy that nearly as much as I do. So George William... (Forthwith referred to as GW, because its a long name(s) to type, although typing this disclaimer is likely more lengthy than just writing out George William, I'm not even sure I'll say it again, but I've written this now so I'm going to keep it, it makes for a good dramatic commercial sort of break in this mediocre story.) GW received a tract from this church so he wanted to check it out, and we went with him because we could.

So we show up at this church about 15 minutes or less before the service started, and the door was shut. Then a woman came to a side door of the building we were lead to and says, "What church are you looking for?"
GW responds that we had come to fellowship, and she then says she'll open the door. She opens the door, and the pastor comes to greet us. The fact that he came to greet us was normal, the fact that he was wearing a towel... well that was slightly less than normal...
We should have just left then, but alas, we stayed. We waited, and people began to arrive in 20 minutes or so. (Mind you people usually start singing and praising before the service is scheduled to start.) We then thought that it was going to be a very good service because we started by singing hymns, and not many churches have hymn books. I enjoyed the hymns much.
Then we went to the prayer portion. We had the usual general prayer, and then the worship leader gave us specific things to pray about, the list was so long we divided the congregation. This is not normal. This took about 20 minutes. GW "I was too tired to even pray any more."
Then we went to praise and worship and sang for another 15-20 minutes.
Then came the worst part of the service. The previous week they had distributed tracts to the members and had recorded how many each took. They then had to report back on each of the tracts. The member had to stand up, say how many they took, then explain why the person was not at church if they were not. I feel this is a good way to increase evangelical activity; public humiliation. Then we took 20 minutes to review last week's lesson. Then we left before the sermon after 2 hours of church.
The students have not stopped talking about this church. They said it was the prime example of how not to run a service.

Then I felt rather sick on Sunday afternoon. I think I had a fever, the reason I believe this: I used a blanket for a nap, and I was cold all day. I was better on Monday.

We then started "Spiritual Emphasis." I taught Monday night. Then today I taught in the chapel at 10 AM and 7:30 PM. I also taught my discipleship classes at 2 and 5 PM. My throat is a bit tired. I have the same schedule tomorrow as I did today. My larynx is not appreciative of my 4 speaking engagements per day.

This weekend I am traveling with GW (I have in fact typed GW quite a few times) and Julius to Amuria. This is... in Uganda. I will be there from Friday to Sunday (or Monday). We will be doing teaching on Saturday and on Sunday. I am excited for this. This will be the first time that I'll be sleeping in the "village." I don't know if I'll be grass thatched hutting it or if there will be a permanent structure there, but I am stoked either way.

In other news, I am also starting to meet with Sam tomorrow for one on one discipleship trainingness. Mostly because I am not very busy this week.

Ok, it is my bed time... I just looked over at my bed and saw a cockroach scampering across my headboard. I think I'm going roach hunting prior to going to bed. I lied previously...

OK... Love you all. God bless!

A Very Clever and Catchy Post Title

So this morning when Mary brought breakfast up she had cold milk. The milk was boiled last night, and then in the fridge over night. That was a very nice surprise. The aforementioned milk actually came from our cows out at the farm. That is kind of exciting.

The plowing is nearly finished (they plow it once, wait a week, then plow it again) so late this week or next week we/I will be planting the test plots int he "gardens." There aren't fields here they are all gardens. That is also exciting.

Today I am meeting with 2 groups of young people age 17-24. We will be doing a small group bible study/ discipleship class for the rest of my time in Mbale. I am rather excited about this. This is what I've really the sort of thing that I have wanted to get started since I arrived here. This week is not when I would have really chosen to start it, since I'm trying very hard to get my sermons written for next week. I have one finished. If you would like to read through it to see what you think/provide ideas I'd be most happy to let you do so.

Also I have found out that when I was in Entebbe I did not talk to/fill out the paperwork with the correct people. This is not so excellent. The people we talked to claimed they were the right people, but then called me again yesterday saying I need to do different paperwork. This might mean that I must travel back to Entebbe again.

On Sunday Mary's church was an interesting experience. We got out of the taxi along the main road, and then walked straight up those very large hills. We then hike for about 3 kilometers. Then once I was very hot and sweaty we arrived at church to which we were late. We had missed the bible study portion. Which started at 9. I arrived at about 10:15. We then entered praise and worship portion. The singing and dancing lasted about an hour. Then there were 3 separate choirs. Each sang one song. Then we went to "intercession" where everyone prays for about 15 minutes. This is not the standard congregational prayer in the US where that pastor prays for the congregation. Everyone is standing up, walking around, and praying out loud. Sometimes yelling and or crying.

Then we hiked 2/3 of the way down and we ate at the house of Moses. Moses is a convert from Islam. He has 3 wives, and one of his wives has 10 children. I don't know about the others. "We don't often count children."

We then got down to the road. Got a car to take us back to Mbale. We had a journey of about 40 minutes ahead of us. Mary and I were sharing a bucket seat in the front. I was leaning over at about a 45 degree angle leaning against the driver's seat. In this way all of my weight was on about 2 inches of seat. My leg went numb in about 10 minutes. When we got to Mbale this caused a bit of an issue. I thought it was asleep, but I did not realize the extent to which it was numb. I stood up, but could not get my leg to stay straight at the knee or the ankle. Then, at the perfect moment I got a head-rush so that I could no longer really think straight either, so focusing on staying upright did not occur. I the fell flat on my face. Which I'm sure was a rather hysterical moment of all of those who were there to watch. They probably thought, "Wow what has that crazy mzungu been drinking?!" I tore a hole in the knee of my trousers. I also was bleeding some. I then proceeded to Calvary Temple where I preached for the second time that day. This time to the youth there. That was a pretty good time. Some of these youth will be the ones with which I will be working this afternoon. (Mom, this sentence originally ended with "with" but I corrected it just for you.)

Okay, I feel as if I have rambled sufficiently to make you fall asleep, I have decided my blog is perfect for just before going to bed. You can use it this way, also as bed time stories for children. Although they won't like it because it will bore them, but if you keep reading they'll be dead asleep in no time.

I must now get to work on my sermons. I have decided I MUST finish one per day this week. I did this yesterday, but I had that one 1/2 done to begin with. So I better get to it if I'm going to make it for the rest of the week.

Warning... This is a long one.

SO, I have not written for almost a week. Sorry about that. I actually was doing stuff this week.

Sunday I had a journey to Kapchorwa. That was pretty fun. The word Kapchorwa actually means home of friends. This was a rather apt name for the place. The people there were excellent. The views were quite awesome. The Mt Elgon National Forest/Park thing starts right there and goes over into Kenya. The service was rather long. We were there for 3 hours before I started teaching. The service was roughly 5 and a halfish hours. Then when we were leaving we met 3 young fellows who are aspiring musicians. That was a good time. They were funny and friendly chaps. They played for us. They were pretty good.

On Monday I was trying very diligently to work on my messages for Spiritual Emphasis. This is not going all that well. One of my spiritual gifts is procrastination. One of my other spiritual gifts is not writing. That puts me squarely at struggling.

Tuesday Kennedy and I went on a vagabondage around town in search for an importation permit. We went here and there and everywhere and finally found the proper person with the answers. The answer was that we needed to travel to Entebbe. That was not such great news since that is about 5 hours from Mbale.

Anthony and Sarah had a friend at their place this week. Her name is also Sara. They all went to seminary together, and Sara spent the last month in Soroti. So she spent a few days in Mbale before going back to the US. On Wednesday afternoon I went to Sarah and Anthony's house for supper with the 3 of them. We had pizza and no bake cookies. This may have been the most fantastic meal I've ever eaten in my life. Not that I don't enjoy African food, but it is pretty much all the same. A rather tasteless starch with a good soupish thing poured over the top. The best part was having mozzarella cheese. This cheese was made by Jerome. (A dutch fellow that is now a resident here since 1989. He came first as a missionary. He now has a Ugandan wife and dairy farm. He also owns a cafe in town where he sells his goods. He is a pretty cool fellow.) The next best part was the no bakes. Most Africans are not real big on sweet things. There really isn't such a thing as dessert, except something like... bananas... Speaking of bananas I will almost definitely will not be potassium deficient after this trip.

After we ate we played speed scrabble. I found out that this is not my spiritual gift either. I did make them feel better about themselves though, so that is good.

Then on Thursday we went on a most fantastic adventure. Sarah and Anthony had heard of this game park called Pian Upe (Pee-on Oopay) at the Uganda Wildlife Authority. You would think that the folks there would be well versed in their parks, but we were in for a surprise. We found a private hire driver and a vehicle to whisk us to this location (about 2.5 hours away from Mbale). We even found one with a nice vehicle for taking on the game drive. We then get to the park at about 9:00. This is where the problems started.

When we arrived the people there told us a different price than what we heard in Mbale. In Mbale they said just 20 dollars for a guide. At Pian Upe they said 20 per person, plus 20 for a guide. We got them to accept 60 total since they told us wrong. Then we get back in the car. Along with the guide. They also wanted to send us with 2 more guides (all toting AK's) but we didn't have room so we just went with one guide. Her name is Susan.

We take off down the road, and then she tells us we've driven past the entrance. This should have been warning number 3 that we should not go. There was no road through the game park. She had us just driving out accross the bush through 7-10 foot grass. "Don't worry this won't last long and we'll make it to the road" Susan says. About 100 yards later we make it to the road. This "road" looked much the same to us as the non road did, perhaps we don't have the highly trained eye that Susan does. We then drove for about 1/2 an hour this way. Sarah was having massive allergy attack. Sara was getting car sick. We didn't see any animals. We got the $20 guide fee back but lost 40 bucks on entry fees. We also lost the money on the private hire. We did have a good time though.

Friday I went with Sarah and Sara to Kampala. We took the 6:30 bus. This cost 10000 Sh. Which is roughly $4.90. The trip was 4ish hours. I then met Julius in Kampala and went to Entebbe. I got my stuff done for importing "soya beans" from Brazil. We then went back to Kampala. This journey is about an hour by taxi. We then ate lunch and met the Sara(h)'s at the African Craft Village. There is some cool stuff there. I got a few things. Then we came back to Mbale. Well Sarah Systma and I did. Sara stayed in Kampala because she was going on a real game drive today and then leaving the country in a couple of days.

I saw more Mzungus in this trip than I have seen in the past month put together. Some looked like they could live here, but most were touristy, wearing shorts and looking a bit foolish. When at the craft market I wondered how many Mzungus just go in there and buy stuff for the price they are told. That would be rather a silly thing to do.

Hmm... so today I am trying to do my sermons... see I'm working on them very hard? Then I am going to a church here in town to do stuff with the youth there. I am probably going to be working with them during the week now so I'm excited about that.

Tomorrow I am going to Sironko District again to Mary's church. Anthony and Sarah said that when they went to this church that it was the longest service they've ever attended. Well I have probably rambled long enough for today. Hope none have slipped into a coma whilst reading my random musings.

I still cannot upload pictures here. Sorry about that.

Things That Bother Me

In today's episode we will explore those things in the culture and in general that bother me, but that is just where I'm starting. I tend to get sidetracked in my copious ramblings.

The first thing is the sexism. This isn't something that manifests itself in the government or really obvious things like that. It took me a while to notice. Really it didn't hit me until this last Sunday in Kopwin. After church (in every church I've been to) everyone comes and shakes my hand. The women will always kneel when they shake my hand. The first few weeks this didn't bother me as much, but in Kopwin elderly women were getting on their knees to greet me. This I did not like. Then when we were getting ready a man's daughter came to talk to him. The entire time they were talking (he was sitting in a chair), and she was on her knees to talk to him. This too was not really okay with me. The thing that really started me on this tirade happened last. When we stopped at the aforementioned person's house on the way back to Mbale the man's grand daughter came to say hi to her grandpa, and he forced her to greet him from her knees. This is when I took offense. The girls here are taught that they are inferior from the age that they can walk.

Second is racism/tribalism. Here the different tribes are considered different races. It is easy to know one's tribe because each tribe has their own language. The tribe that is most despised is the Karamajong(sp). They have some interesting habits and beliefs to be sure, but when they come to cities they are ridiculed and outcast. Their tribe believes that all cows that are ever born belong to them. If you have a cow you stole it from them. So it is "okay" for them to steal cows because they owned them to begin with. They also tend to wear... nothing... and well yeah its rather an awkward situation I'll agree but still, let's be nice to these lost folks.
Racism is also against us mzungus. Since prices are very rarely posted the seller sets the price which is then up to bartering. (I'll get to bartering in a moment.) Mzungus are often quoted a price that is 3-10 times higher than the actual going price of the good, and often cannot get the price to come to a reasonable level. Some time we just don't know the price, but often we do. Anthony and Sarah, who have been here for about a year are pretty good at getting the price to a manageable range, but things like bodas (motorcycles for hire) are very bad about this. A ride that should cost about 500 shillings will be charged 1000 or 1500. I'm not mean enough to make them pay what I know to be the right price too often (I should work on that).
Also, no matter how long a mzungu is around he/she is a guest. This is very frustrating to Sarah and Anthony. The staff at the school still call them visitors, when they have lived here for a year, I digress.

Bartering: so perhaps the reason we are no good at bartering is because we do it honestly. The staff were talking at break about one of the pastors/professors at the college bought a pair of shoes. He spotted the ones he wanted and made a big show of how they were terrible and not nice. The shop keeper/street vendor then defended them. They went back and forth. The pastor kept up the charade. Acting that it was painful to wear etc. and then proceeded to buy the shoe for a low price. We (mostly Anthony but I was trying my best to help them see as well) were trying to show them that this is being dishonest, and to be honest about what dishonesty is: lying. They kept trying to play it off as "culture" but some saw what we were trying to get across. Just because its "culturally acceptable" does not make it right to do. That goes for every culture.

Girl next door: My neighbor has a daughter of about 2. She is very cute. This is not the problem. The neighbor also has a hired maid. The maid is 13ish. She takes care of Esta, cooks, cleans, etc. She does not go to school. When my neighbor takes Esta and goes home to the village for the weekend she leaves the maid here by herself. This is also not okay with me. So I do my best to give this girl plenty of my stock of chocolate. I don't know what good this does her, but we laugh much together. I'm not ever really sure what we are laughing at since we have about 15 words in common.

Crazy dreams: I have never really had many dreams that I can remember, but every night I have very vivid often strange dreams. I have heard that of malaria medication before. I think it would be a bad idea to just stop taking my malaria pills because of the dreams... haha

Tomorrow I'm off to Kapchurwa with Julius. This will be my first Anglican experience. We may go hiking at Sippi (sp) falls there after the service depending on time etc. The school is very empty right now. The diploma students are on midterm break. There are only 4 students here. That is really all that I know. Oh I'm struggling to write my sermons for spiritual emphasis. I'm trying to determine what I am comfortable teaching about, and what things need to be taught about from what I have perceived as their spiritual deficiencies. That is a story for another time... You can ask me about that if you'd like, but I shan't ramble about that to the world.

Love and blessings. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Fun Facts

So, even though I cannot get the pictures to upload I believe that I can use my spiritual gift of rambling to inform you of some other tidbit (Fun Facts or FF's) that I have not yet made you aware of.

The first FF (the first is actually an FFF I suppose) I will share with you is the names here. I know I mentioned that at baptism they receive a Christian name, but I would like to share just how Christian/biblical they are.

Many are not too outrageous, or obscurely biblical like Julius, Paul, Simon, and Peter. There are some that just make me laugh; Eunice, Zipporah, Amos, Emanuel, Simeon Peter, Solomon, Absalum, , and my absolute favorite is Bathsheba. This is Zipporah's mother. When she said her name I had to have her repeat it, and try very hard not to giggle a little bit. Who would actually name their daughter that. If you are not aware of what I'm talking about, see 2 Samuel 10, and then all of the zany hi-jinx that ensue because of her and David's shenanigans.

I now just introduce myself as David because it saves the locals much confusion if I do this. I am then claimed as those named Solomon's father. There are also many references. It is kind of fun, and definitely interesting.

This week there is a class on Romans going on with about 40 pastors from around the country here at the school. One of them just came to my room and we talked for about 2 hours. I shared with him some illustrations and he got very excited. It is very encouraging when I get to see people learning more about God and thinking about Him in a new way.

So another FF is about how things are pronounced. Some of them are hard to understand and other things are just funny to hear. The following list are a few of my favorites.

Squirrel = Skwee-ree-all
Clothes = Clo-thez
Mosquitoes = Moss-kwee-toes (one of my favorites)
Park is the exact same as pack, which gets confusing when you are talking about a car and how it is parked... or packed... or... yeah see the problem?
Brandon=Braidon, Bran, Brando, Br... what?
Wilson= Weelsone
There are many other fun words, but right now I cannot think of them. Sorry.

The up side of the words is that you can sound things out very easily since each vowel only has one way of pronouncing it, and they don't use C's, Ph's, Q's, or any of those sorts of nonsensical letter (combinations).

FF's about my time. Right now I'm spending much time preparing for "spiritual emphasis." This is a 3 day period where the students here at the PTC emphasize in spiritual growth. There will be 6 sermons in these three days. Guess who got selected to give 5 of those... Yeah you guessed it, Dr. Suess. Oh wait... no that's not it. Its me... so I'm working on that.

The farm stuff I believe is going to be limited to the test plots and the elephant grass silage tests. So, I'm also still attempting to find a ministry in town that does things during the week that I could help at. I have checked at Missions Moving Mountains, but I would like to find one that is more discipleship/evangelism than paperwork.

The students finish their midterm papers tomorrow and will be going home for the rest of the week. This means that I will be alone... So as I was typing that I realized alone... with the 40 visiting pastors which is more pastors than student pastors... so actually not alone at all, just kidding. Really I was seeing if you were awake, good job you passed.

Also, because I am rather bored just studying during the day I welcome emails. It is most lovely to hear what is happening in your lives (well I am speaking in the present tense because my Mom does this... Thanks Mom!)(oh and Amy and Sarah do from time to time also Thanks!), but the rest of you are encouraged to join in the pen-pal game. Then you can ask questions and things because its not really strange for me any more so I don't really know what you would find of interest.

Okay, I will let you get back to your lives, and I am going to bed, because... well I am tired. Good night/morning/afternoon/what ever time of day it is when you read this. God bless!

A Taxi, Like a Church is Never Full.

It has been a long week my friends. Last week we were trying to get everything figured out for what I will be doing. This, like the road in Uganda, was not exactly smooth.

Then on Saturday I taught some of the students to play Ultimate Frisbee. This was interesting for a couple of reason. First because they had never seen or heard of a Frisbee before. Secondly, most of the rules come from American football and basketball. Two sports which they don't really play. After quite some time though we got it all worked out and it was a blast, very hot and sweaty, but a blast none the less.

Most every evening I go on a walk with Julius or Emanuel. That will soon change however because the degree students are now on holiday. Julius is staying around for a few more days to get some assignments done. On these walks we often go to town, or if you walk away from downtown there is another market district. Those are our most common destinations. On these walks I get lessons on the language, education system, Muslims, their families, or pretty much anything that comes up. They also are very interested in learning about the United States.

One of the strangest things to me is the stark contrasts in development here. Nearly everyone has a cell phone here, but they still plow using bulls. In kampala you can be in a big department store with escalators and things, walk for 15 minutes out of town and you find a village of mud and grass thatched huts where the children run half naked, but don't worry their parents have cell phones. Some things take leaps forward, other things are still the same as they have always been. There is still nothing to do with trash here besides a) throw it on the ground (most common) b) pile it and burn it.

On Sunday I went to Sironko with Julius. I taught at the church there in the morning. The service lasted from 9:00 Am to about 12:30 PM. Then the church had a lunch. (have I mentioned that eating utensils are not preferred? They only use them in the big cities especially when mzungus are around.)That was probably the largest vat of rice I had ever seen in my entire life.

Church music here is interesting. It is usually started by one person, in front, in the audience, doesn't matter who. They just start clapping, or singing and everyone comes in and soon we have 4 part harmony going on with all kinds of clapping rhythms, some people bring their own drums and things. They also change languages frequently. Worship happens in usually 3-4 languages in every church. They will have the native language of the local tribe (35 to choose from in Uganda), Luganda (the largest tribe in Uganda)(The tribe is actually called Buganda, it is a kingdom tribe, so they have a king, and he usually doesn't like the Ugandan government because it means his power is very limited. Its rather odd and interesting.), Kiswahili (the language of Kenya so if any Kenyans are in the house, or if they speak Kiswahili and not the local language), and English. The last two are for people that are not from the area. Most people here, if they are educated, know the local language, English, Swahili, and some know Luganda as well. So they switch mid song between languages. That is interesting.

The songs always have a leader, because most of them are changed depending on how the Spirit leads. In this way it not uncommon to have a song last 5-15 minutes. They just sing one song a bunch of times differently instead of singing different songs. This is nice for the white guy who only speaks English. He can almost get some of it by the end. Although I can't always even tell if they are singing in English so he doesn't get it all that often.

Next Sunday I am off Amuria (Ah-moo-ree-ah), I think I'm going to Amuria. I'm not positive on that one.

A few more fun facts. Brandon is hard to pronounce, so many call me Wilson but the other day someone was looking at my driver's license and now people are starting to call me David. This is because it is easy and it is a Christian name. Here everyone goes by a tribal name until they are baptized and then they are given a Christian name. They therefore feel that I should be called by my Christian name, plus it is easier for them so... I'll go with it.

I went to a football game today. That was fun and exciting. I never really liked soccer much before but I think I could get into it.

I am working on finding something to do during the week. I have contacted another missions org here in Mbale. I may work with them and I may come up with something else yet I don't know. I'll keep you posted.

I attempted to attach pictures, which would make sense of the title of this blog. If you remember last week I mentioned taking a taxi built for 12, carrying 21. This week there were 28 people in it. That was full... it was during this time that I wished that Africans used deodorant. I will try the pictures again soon.

Journey to Mukura

On Sunday I traveled with the Academic Dean to his home Mukura: ((n) Moo-koo-rah: trading center near Soroti). I was informed of that this journey would take place on Friday. This was a bit nerve wracking since this journey involved 2 hours in public transportation, and 3 hours of me preaching at the church there. Here is how it went down.

We left our compound at about 7:45 AM. Took a boda boda (motorcycle for hire) to the Kumi (Koo-me) Road. This is where the taxi's load. The taxis here are "public means." They are like a micro bus deal straight out of the 70's. There is a sign on the side "licensed to carry 12." The average number of passengers is 15, and the high was 22. This was a warm and cozy ride. I mean very warm, oh and I will take this moment to remind you that deodorant is not used here. I will tell you more about these two modes of transportation later.

Upon arrival to Mukura we went to Amos' house where I ate breakfast prepared by his wife. Eggs and bread, and of COURSE tea. Remember any time is tea time in Uganda. We then ventured to church. This was about a kilometer walk. We entered to applause. That's never happened before.

I then enjoyed listening to the several choirs, and congregational singing in Ateso. A language that I am definitely not fluent in. After which Amos spoke for a little bit "warming them up" and then I did my thing, and really Amos did the preaching I just gave him my ideas of what I wanted to say and he said, well I have no idea what he said, but it seemed that he said more than me sometimes... Oh well.

After church I think I shook at least 50 people's hands. The grown ups came up and usually say "eyalama" (thank you), "Karibu" (you are welcome, which is not used here like it is in the US. Instead of saying come again, or come in and sit down, they say you are welcome. This confused me for quite some time), or "Praise God" (Iteretete Edeke) to which I reply "Amen." They would then leave and make room for more, but the little kids would come up and shake my hand and kneel a little bit. They would then continue to stand in a circle around me, staring at me as if I don't look like them? They are very cute though, so I didn't mind. They would just break out in laughter sometimes. I'm not sure if it was at me or with me... Oh well...

Then we went back to Amos' house. We ate more lunch than I have ever eaten. I literally think that every person that reads this blog could have eaten from the table set for 2, and we would have had extra. It was delicious though. Pork (in some sort of thick sauce), chicken stew, chipoti, rice, Irish potatoes, passion fruit juice. Since I was the guest I got to eat the gizzard.

We then went back to church where I continued teaching. I taught them an illustration for sharing the gospel in the afternoon, and the importance of follow up after sharing the gospel.

There was similar shaking of hands, we went back to Amos' house for a short bit, and then caught a taxi back to the college.

Here are some photos from the journey. Enjoy!

Amos, his wife and I in front of his house in Mukura.

This is a prime example of the use of motor bikes here. Who needs a truck when you have a motorcycle or a bicycle?! Loaded on this bike is a live pig.

This is a cool looking lizard. I asked what they are called. Profoundly enough they are called...
Drum role please.... Lizards.

Some fellows hanging out with their goats, or perhaps not their goats, but goats are near them in any event.

This is Amos' granddaughter Alicia feeding the chickens. With help from grandma.


I am sorry that I lied at the end of my last post. I will not include those things in my post today. Mainly because many other things occurred that I felt you would enjoy hearing about more.

Yoga Noi!

Yoga Noi from Mbale!

If you wondered Yoga noi means "Hello it is great!" That is in Ateso. That is not the language of Mbale but many of the students here are from north of here and we about 10 kilometers from "Tesoland."

So I left the US a week ago today. In that time I made it Kampala on Friday night. The first thing that struck me was the traffic. That may have been the second thing actually. The first thing was that going through customs was a personal choice. I chose to not, as did most of the plane. Then a taxi driver picked me up and took me through Kampala to a hotel. The ride was crazy. It was about 9 PM and yet there was a "jam." There were people and cars and bikes everywhere. People use they horns and lights to signal their coming and to signal their coming. Overtaking is a common practice. There really are not traffic control systems to speak of, just horns and lights.

The food here is very good. There is usually something with broth that goes over rice, potatoes (sweet or irish)(sweet potatoes here are white and just have a hint of sweetness), matooke (which is a variety of nonsweet bananas that are used like potatoes and often mashed and steamed in banana leaves), or chipoti (wheat flour and water fried like a pancake - very heavy but delicious). They also have the most fantastic juice here. No not orange (which are green and don't turn orange, deceiving name). Fresh passion fruit juice. I may move here just for that. "Any time is tea time in Uganda" is said frequently, but every day after at 11 there is tea time. Tea is served VERY HOT and is about 1/4 tea and 3/4 milk. That is about the only time Ugandans take milk. PS everything is taken not eaten or drank. It is taken.

I now have a pretty good idea of what I will be doing. I am working with the farm manager on developing the best way to improve the 5 paddocks of pasture, and establishment of the forages. I spent most of the last 2 days at the farm doing that. The cows look very good by Ugandan standards. Local cows are about hip high to me. Ours are normal heifer size.

The portion of my description that was stated as "discipleship and evangelism" are going to take place mainly on the weekend. I will be traveling to churches in Uganda, and perhaps into Kenya. I will be preaching (?) and doing trainings on evangelism and discipleship. I feel pretty good about the second portion. The first portion is less exciting. mainly because I don't know what I'm supposed to be teaching on, but it'll work out.

That is probably about enough rambling for now. Oh and everything just kind of stops in the afternoon from 1-4. Mostly because it is raining during that time every day.

"Praise God" is a greeting and departing term to which you reply "Amen."

Here are some pictures:

These are the cows. There are 9 heifers. Three are bred. One will be calving soon.

Supper on Tuesday. Fried chicken, rice, chipoti, avocado, onion, tomato, some sort of broth, and some sort of fruit. Might be jack fruit. I don't know.

This is a hill outside of Mbale. This picture is right outside my door just after sunrise. These are to the east. It is the foothills of Mt Elgon. Some call it (them/there are more behind) rocks. Others say they are too small to even be rocks, but they look like mountains to me.

These confuse me though, because I always think they are to the west. That is likely because the weather all comes from the east here. It is mind blowing.

Next Episode will include: My place of residence, the college, and the people here. Stay tuned!

The Time Draws Nigh

In the words of Peter, Paul, and Mary "Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea"... wait no those are not the right words from Peter, Paul, and Mary...

"All my bags are packed, and I'm ready to go." Yeah those are the ones.

I spent the last 3 days in Grand Rapids, MI. I have been oriented to many things that I will be facing; culture shock, poverty, expense reports. I think the thing I am looking forward to the least is the expense reports.

I learned a Swahili worship song, tasted some authentic food from Kenya (neighbor to Uganda to the east), and met some great people. The song has been stuck in my head for 2 days, and the food was fantastic.

Here is a more up to date itinerary. I will get on the plane here at 1:35 PM EDT May 20, 2010. I will then get off the plane in Entebbe Uganda at 9:40 PM Friday August 21. Once I arrive there someone will be there to pick me up. I believe it will be someone from Christian Reformed World Relief Comittee. I think I will then spend the night in Kampala (the capitol city of Uganda). Patrick will then pick me up on Saturday and take me to Mbale, about a 4 hour journey by, well I don't know what for of transportation. After that... What ever God has planned for me. Teaching, research, evangelism, discipleship, or what ever they want me to do.

There are a few things that you can pray for on my behalf. The first is that the flights will all be on time and safe. That the arrangements are all taken care of when I get there, and that I don't take too long to adjust to the time change. I also ask that you pray that there are things for me to use my skills on while I am there. That my ministry and labor is fruitful

Thank you all so much for your support. I could not do this without you. Yes, I mean you, sitting there right now. Thanks.

New Information!

On Saturday I talked to the project manager for the dairy program at the seminary at Mbale. The purpose of the dairy farm at the seminary is to provide the students there with greater understanding of production systems of dairy, row crops, and forages. This knowledge can then be used as the pastors go out into the surrounding communities to increase the productivity of the farmers in those communities.

My responsibilities will be mostly with the crop production aspect of the farm. I will be doing some experimentation with different forage crops to see if we can increase the overall production and the nutrient value of the forage that is produced. One of the biggest struggles at this point is an overall lack of protein in the diets of the dairy cows. One of the other things I will be doing is taking some soybean seed with me to plant there to see how well they can be produced there.

This week is finals week here at ISU (my last as a cyclone). I am moving home tomorrow and packing for both Uganda and Dordt the next couple of days, because when I get back to the US on the 11th of August I will then be moving to Sioux Center to start football on the 12th. Then on Saturday the family is traveling to Indiana/Michigan for a week of relaxing. I will have orientation for my trip the 17th through the 19th of May. On May 20 at 1:45 PM I get on the plane for the first flight (all the way to Detroit).

The moral of that mindless ramble was that this is all coming right up. I ask that you continue to pray for me to be prepared to do all of this. For my financial support to come in, and that a place for me in Mbale would be prepared and that I will be effective when I get there.

Thank you!

Preparations

Well, here we are 24 days from departure to Mbale. I have now gotten all of my vaccinations and those sorts of things. I still have 4 days of class, 4 finals, to move home, to pack for Uganda, and a vacation before I leave.

I guess I don't know what else to share with you, because well I am not in Africa and therefore have nothing interesting to say.

I suppose I can give you what information that I know about this adventure. I will be at the Christian college in Mbale Uganda. I will likely be working with the dairy farm of the college. There is also a rumor that I may in fact be teaching an introductory class in agriculture. I will also be involved with the ministry that is established there, doing evangelism and discipleship things.

Right now I ask that you pray that God go before me into Mbale and prepare for me a place, and prepare the hearts of the people there to receive me and what I have to bring them. Also pray that adequate support will be raised for my trip. If you are interested in supporting the mission that God has called me to just shoot me an email or give me a call.

Matthew 9:35-38