African Muzungu

I'm coming back to the States! At the end of May, I'll be flying back to the States for an early furlough. My sister who I follow (one of my favorite Ugandan phrases) is expecting her first baby in the middle of June!! Melinda and JJ were married 8 days before I left the States last May, and shortly after I see them again, I'll be welcoming my new niece or nephew! It's a strange feeling being over here so far away from my family. In so many ways I feel like everything should be just the same as when I left, but that's not the case. So much can happen and has happened in the past year on both sides of the ocean, and while we have stayed in touch with Skype (praise Jesus for technology!!), things like a pregnancy definitely make me feel the separation more. I'm currently hoping/planning on spending 3 months back in the States and coming back to Africa around the end of August. In the next 4 months until I go back, I'll be working on finalizing what ministry fo...

I am so excited to tell you all that the Lord has provided a new place for me to live! Sean and Linda Tyler, long term missionaries here in Mbale, invited me to live in their guest home that's in their compound behind their house, so I moved in the first week of December, and it's been full steam ahead ever since! I learned so much in the past 6 months living with an African family, and I'm so grateful for my time there. I'm also just as excited to be able to live alongside the Tylers who have welcomed me in with open arms. My first lesson in home maintenance came the day after moving in when the chain to the handle of my toilet broke! I can now not only fix the problem, but I learned how to flush a toilet with a bucket of water too. I definitely feel just a little bit less like an ignorant white girl :) I'll post more details (and pics!) as soon as I can finally finish unpacking and moving in. Until then, I pray the Lord's blessings on each of you ...

This past weekend after celebrating a wonderful Thanksgiving (as in AMAZING food, TOO much fun, and GREAT company!) with a bunch of other American missionaries, my friend Natalie and I took a trip to Jinja, just a couple hours away. Jinja is the town right by the source of the Nile river which flows from Lake Victoria, and our accommodations were situated overlooking the Nile. It was truly wonderful to take the time to rest, be refreshed and fellowship with the Lord and with Nat for 3 days. Soaking up the beauty around me, and just being for a while was so wonderful. In the confusion and commotion of living in Africa, there is so much to think and analyze and evaluate and feel and change and do . I'm so grateful for the opportunity the Lord provided for me to go away for a time and find my balance and center around Him alone again. Time away also gave me a chance to read/listen to some books while cross stitching! I've been reading Hannah Hurrand's book, Hinds Feet on High...

Anybody remember your elementary school cafeteria? I don't....I didn't have one since I was home schooled, but that's besides the point. I certainly got to HEAR about all my friend's school cafeteria experiences (you know, the whole "I'll eat your brown stuff if you'll eat my green stuff"), but I thought I'd show you the school cafeteria at Covenant Primary school here in Mbale..... Here, everyone just eats their brown stuff. otherwise known as ebijanjalo, or to you muzungus, beans. and posho. Posho or rice with beans is definitely one of the most common meals here in Uganda, and they eat plenty of it! I seriously marvel at how much one Ugandan can fit in their flat stomach. When I was growing up, the most common concern I heard expressed about being a missionary was what you would have to eat. Pictures of bugs, slimy slugs, and floating chicken heads danced through my mind, and I asked myself, "Would I be willing?" I said yes....but sin...

Thank you so much for all of the prayers you have offered up for me since my last blog! I have definitely found strength, encouragement, peace, and comfort through your prayers and mine in situations that would have been so defeating otherwise. One of the greatest joys and blessings to me for the past several weeks has been my new language helper, Margaret. My concerns with my last language helper, Diana, (not as a friend, but as a teacher) led to one of the challenging situations that I've had to face here, but I really do believe the Lord has worked in some incredible ways, and I have been blessed abundantly with a new teacher, helper, and friend in Margaret. (I just stopped to look at this picture from an American perspective and noticed the bare light bulb and exposed wires in the background.... I guess the fact that I don't even think twice about it anymore says something....I'll leave you to decide what that is :) ) Margaret is quite the busy lady! She teac...

Today I could have done a fun post about the different kinds of things I eat on a regular basis, or some of the fun things I've been learning in language, or some of the interesting cultural situations I've been exposed to, but instead I'm just here asking for your prayers. These past couple of weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster. I knew when I came that the spiritual warfare here would be intense, and it has definitely proved to be so. There have been a multitude of situations, problems, thoughts, and confusions that have kept me busy praying, thinking, and praying some more, and I am definitely in need of your prayers more than ever. While there have been many discouraging days (including yesterday!), I have been constantly reminded that my Lord is right here with me. When I'm sad and hopeless, He whispers to me, "Trust in me at all times. pour out your heart before Me, for I am your refuge." Ps 62:8 And when I feel completely alone and helpless He so...

Lime. No, really. It's a lime. Nope, not that one.... that's an orange. (yes, really) or that one.... that's a tangerine. That one. The one in the middle. Lime. Can you see why I spent an hour in the market trying to find limes? Not to mention the fact that there seems to be some debate on what they're actually called in Luganda. Obulimawa? or Kalimawo? I finally found them by asking about 10 people where the obulimawa...the very very small ones were. Oh, and you'll never guess what color the lemons are. Yup. Green. Cracks me up that the only citrus fruit that should be green is actually yellow. This is so descriptive of my life right now. In this very different life and culture, many things just look different than I think they will (and sometime should!) For example, American culture tends to be very direct, and Uganda culture in general is indirect. Someone might say to you, "You are most welcome to my home for lunch today" without any thought of you ac...