African Muzungu

Christmas in Uganda is the time I feel the sacrifice of living overseas the most. The rest of the year it’s only on occasion that I really have to fight feeling sorry for myself. I wish I was a super-star missionary that never had any thought of being anywhere else but here. I wish I could say that I was always 100% content exactly where I am. I wish I was always happy in being where God wants me. But the truth is that I’m not. The truth is that there are moments when I’d give anything just to be in commercialized, snowy, wonderful Colorado Springs with the hugs, comfort, and familiarity of my friends and family. I look at the faces of the people who I love here and for the briefest of moments wish I was looking at the faces of my family instead. I sit in the two room, cooking-smoke filled house of some of my dearest friends and wish for a second I was on the comfy couch in front of the Christmas tree. I drive the sunbaked dusty red roads in the hottest time of year and long for sno...

 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) 

I thought you all might enjoy a glimpse of Ugandan culture: this is how we decorate cars for weddings in Uganda. In the states, only the getaway car is decorated, but here in Uganda there is a bridal procession of cars to carry the couple, bridal party, and all other important people to the wedding. Each of the cars gets decorated, and all the cars drive very slowly honking their horns in a steady 'beep, beep!' I got to drive the bridesmaids around so my Rav4 also got all dressed up. Annnnnd it give me a chance to show off the new tires the Lord provided through you all! My car sporting its brand new tires and all decked out for the wedding

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...

I've grown up my whole life dreaming and expecting to be a missionary. In the beginning it was much more like a dream, full of dark jungles, strange people just waiting to be converted, me in a prairie dress with my arms full of orphaned children, etc. But as I grew, the dream took on more and more of reality. I researched high and low. I pestered other missionaries with many questions, and I began to form a more accurate picture of what life as a missionary really looks like. I remember many things people would say trying to scare some sense into me..... But it's not safe. Aren't there terrorists over there? But you'll be so far from your family. But don't you actually want get married? Don't you know that missionaries are poor for the rest of their life?  And to be honest, some of the things did scare me a bit. Being so far from the family I so adored was a really hard thought. But I was still determined. I knew God wanted me in Africa, and I just knew He ...

Little Mary is 5 years old. She is the youngest member of Katherine’s household and has been at the orphanage for just less than a year. She’s also in our youngest class at Genesis. When she had first come to Katherine’s, she didn’t speak any English at all, and was so quiet and shy. For the longest time, the only answer she’d give to any question whether in English or Lugwere was ‘yes.’ We’ve watched her come so far in this year, and now although she’s still not a big talker, she can understand English, answer basic questions, and plays and runs and interacts with all the other kids. In Awana, she’s one of the first in her class to memorize the verses, and her sweet little voice reciting the Word of God has been one of the brightest things in my life each week. Well, one day at the nightly devotions for the orphanage, the other kids jokingly told Mary that the next day would be her turn to share for devotion. They fully expected her to just laugh and refuse, but to their surpri...

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...