A little journey

Today I was able to head to a town called Bugembe to visit a friend of mine that I met a while ago. Her name is Suzanne and how we met it was so a God thing that even when I feel like I don't have "time" for her, I know that God has brought this about for a reason. I visited her home a few months back, but hadn't been able to go there again. It's been interesting having a whole different perspective of life here from someone who is basically my same age, but she also has AIDS (which I honestly still can't believe even though today she showed me the papers with all the details). It's going to be cool to see what God may do through this friendship and the opportunities He might open in the future.

oh, on a little side note, yesterday marked 9 months since I've been out here. It's crazy how fast time is flying.

More prison action

Today I had another opportunity to teach in the prison. I've really come to love the time I get to spend with those fourteen ladies. One of the most beautiful/joyful noises I've ever heard is them singing. I look around and they've got their eyes closed singing a worship song in Luganda and the drum is beating in the background and it's just too cool! I love the fact that God doesn't just communicate in English but every tongue and nation is to praise His name. Today I taught on Genesis 17, God was good to draw a lot of stuff from there that seriously wasn't from me at all. I had my outline, but He's so good to not stick to an outline. The message focused on worship, change, God's plans, and our obedience. Honestly in the end it was one of those things where I was like "wow! I really needed to hear this message". I love those times where you can look back and go "God that was all you!" there was absolutely no way I could have taught on that subject without Him and I'm just humbled and amazed at how it went. I just pray the ladies do seek to put off the old self and not be doing things for external purposes only.

busy, busy, busy

I'm writing this from a big cushy chair, with a feeling of relief that the past two days are over. Not that they were bad, just ridiculously busy.

Sundays always are busy for me, they're really all that my week really builds up to. So this Sunday was no different. I had service, then the kid's Bible study as I continue to work through the beatitudes with them and this week we covered "blessed are the merciful" and "blessed are the pure in heart". I had fun with showing them with a glass of water about how a pure heart looks and then I put dirt into there to show them how our heart looks when we allow the "things of this world" to come into our lives like watching/reading not-so-good things. Then I had the girl's Bible study where there were several girls who came since school is on break right now. We spent the full two hours with them asking questions about the Bible, it definitely challenged me to really know my stuff and it was just cool getting to talk with all of them. From there, I had Kenny and Aryanna's birthday party where we ate some awesome local food and they opened presents and the full shabang. Afterwards, Ryan tried to put on Star Wars and I just fell asleep so I just went home early.

Today, was busy but with a lot of miscellaneous sort of things from running some errands for Bev to studying for teachings. The main thing though that I did for most of the day, since the power was out for most of it, was play with the kids. JB and his family are going back to the village for a couple of weeks and they leave early tomorrow morning so for a big chunk of the day I was on the receiving end of either a squirt gun or a kid hanging on me. I had a blast with them, but then afterwards I definitely had to decompress with an orange fanta.

I absolutely LOVE all that God has brought into my life and the people I'm surrounded by. I'm a busy girl, but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

Preachin in the prison

Today I was able to have an awesome opportunity and teach in the condemned section of the prison. I have to admit I was really nervous about how it would go just because I tend to feel like people look at me and go, "she's so young, how can she be teaching us about anything?" but God is faithful and His truth is not bound by age. I taught on Hagar and Sarai (Genesis 16) and the paths that sin causes us to take. It was definitely really intense addressing sin and mistakes in a prison, it really did bring it to a whole new level for me. I taught about how He works for His glory, and we just need to trust Him and that He's there for us even in the midst of when we're feeling the pains of our own sin or the sin of others. I have never really studied that story, so it was really cool just for my own personal reason and not just with ministry, I love how God works like that!

It's about time!

So I've been talking about my little place for some time now (since February) and some may have heard that it's finally complete. Well, I've been in here for a week now, and I absolutely am in love with my little apartment!!! It's definitely my place with my "special" little touches where when some people see them they go "oh...ummmm... that's nice?.." Honestly though, I love it purely for the fact that I don't have to care about pleasing other people with my decorating style and can just have my own space. Just now I finished dipping Oreo crumbs into a jar of peanut butter and I didn't have to worry about anyone judging me for it. I love how my bed it about 6 feet tall and I have to climb from a step stool, to my desk, to my dresser to get on it (I'm not being sarcastic either, I really do love it!) Under my bed I have my little "cave" where I have my desk and I can go in there and kind of hide and focus and get in the "zone" when need be. Ok, I could just go on and on, but really this is kind of a love letter to my apartment, so I'll stop. Here's a picture of my living room, the kitchen, and then my bedroom (well more like just my bed

Our newest additions to the worship team

Tonight we had service, but during worship practice we had some VERY special guests.

When people are big...

So this is a bit of a different post from what I normally do, but I just had to process this thought and it seemed that what better to do it than here.

Before I came to Africa, Neil gave me a list of books I should add to my library that deal with various issues that could arise in counseling situations, and one of the books is called When People are Big and God is Small. So basically I decided to start tackling that stack of books and as I picked up this little book I had no idea what was about to hit me. I find it funny that when you are searching for ways to minister to others you are more often than not ministered to yourself, and it's typically even more help to you than the people you originally intended to be your audience, and that's definitely the case here.

The book's theme is attacking the whole thing about how you put more weight in what others think or may think versus seeking to please God. It's funny because in some cases I would consider myself a people pleaser who just happens to frequently tick people off. It's amazing how much weight we can put on others opinions. We all do it, and most of the time we do it without realizing it. I have to admit my butt is getting kicked, but in a good way. I always have those verses in my Bible highlighted in yellow and orange (that means those are the verses I want to memorize) that talk about seeking to please God instead of seeking to please man, but I never had the heaviness of them hit me until now. Oh man, this is just another thing to add to the list of areas I fall short in, but such are the joys of the process of sanctification.

OCC Pics

Here's the pictures from us distributing the shoe boxes. It was just a wee little church that we were at, but 150 kids were blessed and were able to hear the Gospel.

OCC Outreach

Pictures from Easter and Good Friday

Here's the slideshow for our Easter and Good Friday services, enjoy :)

Good Friday/Easter

First Easter Away

Today I had my first Easter away from home. I have to admit it was a whole lot easier than Christmas was. It was raining all night and through the morning so it kind of put an interesting feel to the morning and kept a few people from coming. We had a pretty typical Sunday morning service where JB taught, but then it was cool because the cross that we had put up on Good Friday we went out and put flowers all over it to symbolize the new life we have now that He has risen. The rest of the day I just baked, I made my first homemade cinnamon rolls that actually didn't turn out too bad and a chocolate chip cake and we watched Mama Mia and I ended the day with talking to my family. It was a pretty chill and awesome day to celebrate the biggest day in history.

The first picture is the one from Good Friday and them putting up the cross, the second one is after all the flowers are on it.

Rockin' a little OCC action

Today I was blessed with an awesome opportunity that I've wanted to have for a really long time: participate in an OCC shoebox distribution. We loaded up in our little green van with an awesome group of people from our church and Jess driving and we drove for about an hour and a half through the beautiful Ugandan countryside full of hills and all sorts of crops (it still takes my breath away when I see it)to a little village called Naiwakona. We had about 150 boxes to hand out there. I have to tell you that it was hard from an organizational standpoint just because things are a little "different" in the village and not to mention that for the whole Gospel presentation Jess and I had to stand outside because we were frightening some of the little kids because they weren't used to seeing "Mzungus". After Lillian rocked keeping the kids in line, we handed out the presents (pictures to come). It went fairly well, and it was good practice for us for next year.

After doing that and seeing little kids getting what was probably their only gift for their entire life, we went to the house of Joshua, the local pastor, for lunch. I had been craving local food for a while and so I was stoked to get to have legit Ugandan cuisine ;). We had posho, rice, stew, and a little meat. I'm still learning proper etiquette for dining in the village, so I was watching our local staff members very closely as to how they conducted themselves. Needless to say, the food hit the spot.

All in all it was a really cool experience.

No bells, whistles, or...fundraisers

Today marks the beginning of celebrating THE most important weekend that ever took place in the history of mankind. This Good Friday was started out with my quiet time landing on 1 John 4 talking about His love for us and therefore how we should show that love to others. Then the day went on as usual, but tonight it was absolutely the best Good Friday service I've ever experienced. I confess I'm a "Martha" with a capital M, more focused on the work then getting to sit at His feet and "be still" and so in years past that's exactly the role I took. Easter and Good Friday were not times for me to look forward to, instead I was stressing out about the weather, calling businesses about parking arrangements, making huge shopping trips to costco, and preparing to fit an insane amount of doughnut boxes in my car (don't ask). Today I truly was able to reflect and have the weight of this day hit me. Of course I was still working running slides, but the teaching I could just sit there and soak it all in and my eyes were opened up to so many new things surrounding the crucifixion. I loved how low key it was, there were about 50 people and at the end a few of the guys carried a homemade cross out to the corner and put it in the ground while everyone else was following singing a local worship song with a beautiful sunset in the background (I'll post a picture soon). And finally we were flipping through the channels and Louie Giglio was teaching an awesome Easter message. It was absolutely perfect!

In the beginning....

Today I went to Spire Road Primary School (Elementary school) with Ryan and as he taught the older kids, I was able to teach the younger ones. I had about 40 kids between the ages of 6-9 and I have to admit it was a little overwhelming at first, but they were all awesome and really into it. We started out with singing "this little light of mine" and me explaining the meaning of that song. Then I just read them a little of Genesis 1 and used that as my spring board for an Easteresque message. I touched on how God was in the beginning, He created everything and it says "Let US make man in OUR image", and after that fast forwarding to how He came and died for us. His existence didn't begin in that manger, but He's been around since the beginning and chose to come down to save us. You just gotta love it that He loves us that unbelievably much! Needless to say it went pretty well. They'll be going on holiday until May 21, but hopefully next term we'll be able to do the same sort of thing.

Playing with the baby girl

I love the mornings after I get done going to the gym because Aryanna is always at the house. We just get to hang out and even though I have every good intention of doing some other work, I just can't help it. Today we accomplished a huge feat! She is now able to count to ten, although sometimes she forgets the number four it's all good because she's not even two yet. After mastering the numbers we had some fun with my computer and taking pictures. It tripped her out to see her face and then when I took video of it, she was in awe. Of course, at one point I did the whole stretching effect and she got scared. When her mom had to take her for lunch, she cried, I can't help but be glad about that considering before I came here I didn't believe in small children and now my best friend is a two year old :).

Here's us doing eskimo kisses


Funny faces


Wow!

Here we go!

Today I had my first day of Luganda lessons. I plan to do them three times a week. I tried out the Luganda 101 that consisted of greetings on some of our staff and they just laughed, but they answered so I guess I got the point across. I also went to my first school where I may be beginning a Bible study at: Jinja Modern. I've been there a few times and so this time I made the official step of speaking to the Head Master and giving him a legit letter requesting permission to teach there. He seemed really receptive so now let's just pray that it will all go well. Tomorrow I'll go to the prison and also meet with a girl that God has brought into my life who has Aids so things are starting to get into the real deal.

Nails by Kelli

Ok, so if you know me at all, you know that when it comes to girlie things like nails and hair I'm pretty much a lost cause, but today I finally painted the kids toes. Little Bev has been asking me for months to paint her nails and finally I had gotten this bright pink polish and today it was kind of like "ok, I just need to do it already!" and so outside of my li'l apartment I had my own little nail salon. The kids would take turns sitting on the stool while I did my best to "paint inside the lines". I did the girls: Bev, Naziwa, Jane, Brenda, Ruthie, and yes even my Aryana (she was actually my best client), and then the boys kept begging me to do theirs so I made them a deal where I would paint one toe nail as long as they promised to let me clean it off before they went home. It was actually a lot of fun, although I had to laugh because one of the boys said that they didn't look so good...haha, oops!

Be careful what you wish for

Today was totally one of those days where I question whether or not I made a mistake seeking to have more on my plate. It was an amazingly awesome productive day where I was able to take care of getting the ball rolling on starting to learn Luganda, had my own little nail salon for the kids (I know it's hard to believe, but see the next blog for details), focusing in on which schools to potentially pursue Bible studies in, preparing for this weekend's worship (don't worry, I just do the slides, I don't do anything with the music), and doing some advertising for events. I also was asked for some sketches in order to potentially help with illustrations for a book, I don't think I'm good enough for that yet, but we'll see how that goes. Needless to say it was pure insanity, and tonight during our Lost Party, I just was totally drained, I guess I haven't totally recovered from the late night due to my daddy's surgery. The one thing I hate about days like today is how you look back on it and realize how you were pretty much totally in the "flesh" for most of it. Tomorrow will be another busy day but I now have to pray that I will seek His strength and for His glory, not mine. All I have to say is "Phew!"

An entertaining night

Ok, so having power (I mean literal electric power) here is not always a guaranteed thing. Needless to say the power typically goes out at least once every couple of days for a little while, it's been happening pretty frequently lately but nothing to really complain about, but today...boy howdy! It went out maybe around ten or so and didn't come back on until 8 this evening. The day was fine, but tonight I went to the Pierce's for a dinner get-together for over twenty people and we were having to assemble it all by candle light and that was not so great at times. It kind of fun, but also presented a few hazards of cutting things in the dark...not a good thing. I wish to say that the power was the only thing, but to add to the "entertainment" nature of the evening, part of the dinner party was comprised of a family from South Korea who had been in Uganda for about a month and were able to head on to Kenya. Wow! They've been traveling for about two and a half years with their kids, I think they have about seven. They just wanted to have their kids see the world so they've gone everywhere from India, to Iran, to Pakistan, to France, to Egypt for a month or more at a time. At the end of the evening, they did a kind of concert for us where they even had traditional Korean costumes and played these really cool little flute things. It was really neat!

Wow!

We read in 1 Corinthians about how we are the body. Honestly, I haven't seen a bigger example of that than I have these past couple of days. For those who haven't heard, my daddy is going into surgery in about an hour and from the missionary community here, to my friends here and back in the states, to my Calvary ABQ family, and my family here in Jinja I have truly seen the term "body" exemplified as they have all been so amazing in praying for my dad. It's just too cool to see how God isn't confined by national borders, time zones, or languages.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him. I'm a definite daddy's girl, and my dad is my hero so the fact that he's going to have this very risky surgery has made these past couple of days rather difficult, but knowing that it's bathed in prayer is so awesome!

My leash

So I had written before about how I was all ready to get into ministry now that SOM was done, well...it seems like God kind of had another plan. Last week was awesome, but then on Sunday night I got hit with an insane cold that seriously knocked me out all day Monday and then partially comatose on Tuesday. I honestly don't remember sleeping like that except when suffering from jet-lag after taking a trans-continental flight. Now I'm feeling a lot better, but a little less ambitious, but in a good way. My perspective has definitely been corrected and so hopefully little by little I'll be able to be the servant He has called me to be. I'm just thankful that I serve a God who loves me so much that along with everything else, He protects me from myself.