African Muzungu

5 1/2 years of ministry in Uganda have been leading to this point…. When I first moved to Uganda I was doing language and culture study in Mbale, but after my first year there, Jesus made it abundantly clear that I was to join the team out in Kamonkoli for ministry. For a variety of reasons (including the fact that there wasn’t available housing), HUM and I decided that I would continue to live in Mbale and drive out to the village each day. The view from my current porch Jesus has abundantly blessed my time in Mbale! I’ve stayed in a number of different houses, but this latest place was my favorite. I got to be there for 3 whole years (so amazing after moving 5 times in 2 1/2 years!), and had over a dozen people live with me in these years. Callie has been my faithful housemate even from before this house, and such a huge answer to prayer. She’s an ideal housemate, and has been a wonderful teammate as we’ve taught so many newbies coming into our house to live in Uganda how t...

 Can you believe it's only 7 more days until Christmas??? Neither can I! This year has just flown by, and I find myself approaching my 3rd Christmas in Uganda. While you're enjoying time with your families, I thought you also might enjoy a look at the newsletter I wrote for my mailing list, and if any of you would like to be included in future mailings, feel free to send me an email at melanie.a.may@facebook.com. (click to open image, then right click, 'view image' to enlarge) 

These past few  weeks months have been overly full! When I sit down to try and remember everything that has needed to be done in these weeks, I am just amazed. To start with, Genesis is approaching the end of its third full year of school! Which is wonderful! And hectic. Final exams needed to be typed and printed. Teacher evaluations needed to be created, printed, and administered.  We had a visiting team 2 weeks ago who spent several days at the school. And all those extras are in addition to the usual work load of supervising teachers, preparing and teaching Bible study for the teachers, planning for AWANA, putting together presentations for the AWANA clubs back in the States, taking sick children to the clinic, troubleshooting all manner of weird circumstances (like the time the school's pit toilet started caving in), etc. etc. etc. And all of that adds up to early mornings and long days. Annnnd in the middle of it all, I'm needing to find a...

Standing outside my house with my guard under the African sky cloaked in stars, the sounds of shouting, yelling, and the beating of drums and jerrycans drifted through the night air. I had been filled with curiosity when I heard the commotion, and stepped out to see if Enoch could explain what was going on. He said that the people were shouting and beating whatever objects they could in order to scare away evil spirits. The story passed down through the generations is that when someone sees an evil spirit, they must begin shouting and making noise in order to keep that spirit from entering their house and causing harm to them or their family. The spirit will flee from the noise, and enter into the house where it is quiet, unless those people also hear the noise and take up the alarm. In that way, the alarm spreads to the whole surrounding area as people try to protect their houses and families from the evil spirits. I know that to western minds, the idea is absurd. And even to...

There are some days when I could even fool myself that I work in an office in the States. This week since the kids are out on the second of their three yearly breaks, I took the opportunity to work on the budget for the school for next year. Buried in my laptop for hours on end, I am reminded of why I wouldn’t gladly choose a 9-5 desk job. This morning found me again at work settling in for yet another marathon day of numbers. I have to admit, it’s not work that I enjoy. When I dreamt of my life’s work in Africa, I’m pretty sure I had something more like trekking through the bush, spreading joy, flowers, and candy to every child that I saw. I definitely didn’t envision a dimly lit office, wooden chair, and lcd screen. But the hard truth of life is that in order to accomplish the vision set before us, we must accomplish even the tiresome, seemingly less important or at least less fulfilling tasks as well. Even though if I had my way, each day would be spent just playing with or teaching...

8 year old Miracle is truly a joy sent from the Lord just for me. Or at least that’s what I’d like to think :) Miracle is in P2 at Genesis, and a truly sweet girl. Each day you’ll find her at school sitting bolt upright on her bench, her eyes fastened on the teacher, and her head slowly tracking the teacher’s movements. Every motion declares the rapture of her attention. You can have no doubt in watching her that she loves to learn!   Last year, she couldn’t go to school because her parents couldn’t afford to send her. Her father, Kenneth, though well-educated and even a secondary teacher himself, was also a drunk. Last year he lost his job at the local secondary school and was left without any income for him, his wife Sarah, and Miracle. So even though Miracle is bright, and did very well in school, she had to stay at home. It broke her parent’s hearts to always hear her asking, “Why can’t I go to school? When will I be able to go to school again?” After start...