A very busy week!

Wow! I cannot believe that I leave in 16 days! Okay, that is kinda sad, so I’m not going to think about it anymore. Sorry it has been so long for an update – the past ten days have been a whirlwind of activity. We have had the other visitors/interns arrive. Catharine’s nephews (Jason and Ian), a nursing student (Allie), and Holly, who was a previous mid-termer here. Alicia, an accountant, just arrived this past Friday and is the last of arrivals until some of us leave first. Haha.

Some activities/happenings have included:
- A trip to the beach. Frisbee, volleyball, and laughter were all a part of this adventure to Lake Victoria. And don’t worry, I made sure I went into the water to say I touched it. haha
- Celebrating the Independence of the USA…with a Pirate Party! We dressed up as pirates and ate some delicious grub. Laughed at each other’s soccer ball/soda liters bowling skills until late at night. Happy 4th of July – Arrgh!
- Staff prayer meeting for the Nuguru and Nakawa areas of Kampala. These areas were greatly affected this past week as the homes were knocked down with a bulldozer without much notice. We (Hope Alive!) have many of our kids living in these areas, and made sure that all were safe and had a place to stay for the time being. The government gave this land away some years back and the people who own it now have finally decided to do something with it after years of doing nothing (a Muslim school is one of the things going to be built there during the 10 year project). There is a longer background story to this, but the news online and other sources can give more information than I can. Much prayer is needed, for both the families and the government.
-Math coaching (tutoring). Dorothy had a great math game going the one day I was there helping the kids learn and practice their math. This was another experience for me, as I learned my math alone and the group atmosphere was different. It also made me realize how much I learned by a certain age, as the education system here is very different (the one boy was way older than the 4th or 5th grade level he was sitting (what they call attending).
- Cleaning and organizing the new office. This was a task, and it is still being done. The awesome Power Prayer Team (which consists of Catharine’s two nephews and myself) was covered in dirt and grime by the end of the day – and we had just cleaned out the stuff and started organizing it into piles of similar items!
- African Jazz. We went to a certain restaurant that had a group playing/singing. Started at 7pm and by 10pm hadn’t done any really traditional songs. We were told that they started that at 10:30pm til late…so we may make another visit the next time they play and just go later in the evening. We did all try Springbock (which is gazelle meet, and tastes similar to venison.
- Saturday Club. The past two Saturdays have been filled with many activities and many kids attending. The first week I helped lead a worship song learning time with the secondary kids. Chris and Dorothy were great co-leaders, and afterward some of the kids were asking me to help them learn the song even better. We taught them Hillsong’s ‘Came to My Rescue’ and then they in return taught me 2 songs that they sing in church sometimes. It was neat to see ho everyone came together and worshiped God. Later I led the game time with all the kids. It was not quite chaos, but I had to get used to the cultural differences with games. One of the things they do here is they need to answer ‘yes’ is they raise their eyebrows…which doesn’t exactly work when you are asking them if they are ready and only a few respond with an actual verbal response! Nevertheless, we had a great time playing running games/variations of Awana games. Everyone had a great time playing new games that they did not know.
This past Saturday I co-led a time of praise songs with the primary groups. Dorothy and I had a blast teaching the kids ‘Jesus You’re My Superhero’ – which they loved! I also taught them ‘Stand Up Sit Down Clap My Hands and Shout Hallelujah’ (WeeSing), and ‘How Wide and Deep and Long and High is the love of Christ’ which a camp chapel speaker had taught me a couple years ago. It was great fun, and the kids were singing them the rest of the time at Saturday club. This week I also led games for the primary group. We played some more variations of Awana games as well as some other ones that my mom and other game leaders I know have created. This has been awesome to experience and definitely a time of learning cultural differences as some of my directions needed to be translated to be understood better! This was my last Saturday Club in Kampala, as next Saturday I will be back in Gulu for their club.
- Visiting a fellow Moody student at his home church. Philip is an amazing guy who was on my brother floor this past year at Moody. Once I found out I may be going to Uganda this summer, I started asking him some questions. He told me I should visit him and his church sometime, and it is almost surreal that it actually happened! I was able to go to his church of about 4,000, see about 20 people come to know the Lord, worship God in a outwardly praising and giving their all to Jesus atmosphere, and see Phil dedicate quite a few babies…I think it was around 25! Of course, him being one of the pastors there, he called me up on stage to introduce me and asked me to speak about why I’m in Uganda and also wanted me to tell the congregation about him in America, saying that he truly does study. It was great to see him, his church, meet the other pastors, and also meet his Aunt and brothers and sister.

Things I’ve learned.:
1. I truly do need a piano near me. I played Kacie’s keyboard last week and realized how much I missed playing. I have discovered that it is a part of my Spiritual health of worshipping God with my music, as well as a stress reliever (which I knew already).
2. I still have a lot to learn about Ugandan culture, though I understand a lot more since arriving.
3. We need more African praise influence in our churches. Their praise and worship - it is so rich and they are not afraid to show it outwardly! I am seeing this in a different light as one of my classes at Moody this past year was all about worship, and it has been interesting to see things happen/not happen that we discussed in class.
4. Many more simple cooking recipes with few ingredients…I’m going to miss the mangoes, pineapple, and cheap yet delicious veggies just outside your door on the side of the road!
5. Being a part of a team is one of the best things in life – they become your family, friends, adventure partners, and people who are always there when you need them.