Face to face with reality...by Tamra

The last 24 hours has been filled with emotions, both high and low. This could be a bit long, but please bear with me. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

Kim thought to take a picture of the kids
 and I while we were at the pond.

Yesterday was so long and slow, I think I went on a walk at least 5 times. Floyd worked in the office on some computer stuff and I know I walked their 3 times for sure. Kim and I took the kids on a long walk all the way to the pond. About 1.5 hours before dinner, Kim and I were discussing that time was moving so slow. Since Troy is such a people person, we asked him if he knew anyone from whom we could borrow a volleyball. His response, "I might know a guy." (I could not make that up, Kim and I were quite amused.) Sure enough, he went off down the road and in what couldn't have been more than 15 minutes, he was back with a volleyball. We started out just practicing serving and bumping, as the kids had never played before this trip. Next thing we knew, we had a full team on both sides and plenty of spectators. We played for quite some time, even being late for dinner.

After dinner, we received quite a blessing. A group of the youth were leading a night of worship. We went to join in and it was wonderful! It went until just after 10pm. I've got to tell you, I had a few moments of concern as several bats were flying all around, just over our heads. It was sort of surreal in the sense that I'm not used to worshiping with bats flying here and there, and yet the worship was not disturbed in the least. There was a mix of Luganda and English music and it was awesome!

The youth leading us in a night of worship.

At one point, I looked over to my right and my heart was touched, yet again. You see, our family, the Pacific family, has children from 6yrs old to 20yrs old. They are all children who, for one reason or another, are orphans, yet they now have a family here at New Hope and they know their Heavenly Father who loves them greatly. So, to my right, I see the oldest-a 20 year old young man who's got to be at least 6'3" or more-standing up, praising God and seated next to him is the youngest-a tiny 6 year old girl. She is wearing a sweatshirt with the hood on and sitting on the bench with her feet dangling. What was so touching-as he stood there praising God, he was holding her hand. I thought for sure she'd fall asleep at any moment. She just sat there listening to the music with his hand holding hers. Try to picture that. It's Saturday night and instead of being out doing who knows what, he is there holding the hand of this little girl who is his sister, but not by blood. A bit later, the worship leader asks everyone to stand and I happen to look over again to see her standing in front of him, not even coming up to his waist, with his hands resting on her shoulders, with such love. And shortly after that, I see him lift her over the bench in front of him, then climb over himself, and they walk out into the dark, hand in hand. She may never know her earthly father, but she is loved and cared for, both spiritually and physically. I know she's been here since she was a baby and he's been here over 10 years, so they've both gone without the love of biological parents, but because of Christ, through New Hope, they are loved and have learned how to love.

This morning we went to church here at New Hope and it was wonderful. By the 3rd line of the second song, I was moved to tears. I'm not really sure what came over me, other than the Spirit of The Lord, but it's been a while since I've experienced worship like I did today. If you'd like, listen to the song HERE on YouTube.

After church, we had lunch, then we decided to play volleyball one more time before we ladies went for our Chapati making lesson and Troy returned the ball (the person had told him to bring it back this afternoon). The game was great fun. Kim, the kids, and I against Floyd. At one point, Floyd and I had a small collision. The ball was coming just over the net, so I went up and spiked it over to Floyd's side. Of course, he was prepared, so he went up to return it. Unfortunately, he came down on my big toe in a horribly awkward way. We're not really sure what happened, other than that it seriously hurt and he knew it had happened. I thought I'd look down and see blood because it felt like my toe nail had been ripped backward. Alas, no blood, but it was pretty sore. We went on with our game and then headed off for the rest of the day.

Kim, Raegan, and I had made plans with a young lady from our family to teach us how to make chapati. (We'll blog about that separately because it was quite an experience and we have pictures.) When we arrived, the family had not eaten lunch, so we were just sitting around, visiting as they prepared lunch. Just as it was time for lunch, another person from New Hope came up to ask a question. Now, this is where the emotion reaches a low. He had come to ask if anyone had A- or O- blood type. A women had just given birth and was bleeding excessively. Unfortunately, those of us who knew our type did not match the blood type, and most people did not even know their blood type. Also, it was shared that the woman's condition was such that it was too risky to try to take her to the capital, Kampala, for help. We all immediately joined in prayer for her.

As I sat there, I decided to go double check with Floyd because he always knows our blood type (we have the same) and I frequently forget what we have. I would have seriously regretted being wrong. As I walked to the house (limped, really), I was praying the whole way and found myself filled with emotion. The reality of life in a third world country had hit me head on. While women can have problems giving birth in the US, there is so much help readily available. There is no blood bank here, no 911, no care flight, nothing. Here we sat, willing to help, but with no physical way to do so.

I got to the house and asked Floyd, "what's our blood type?" He responded with what I had expected, but for once I wanted to be wrong. If only my memory was off and we were A- instead of A+. Of course, he wanted to know why I asked. I couldn't even answer before I just burst into tears. I was overwhelmed with emotion. As I limped and prayed for this woman I've never met, I imagined the sadness of the situation and possible outcomes. Floyd kept his patience as I cried and tried to tell him the situation. Once I regained control of myself, I grabbed the IPad to post on facebook. I didn't have the blood she needed and could offer no other physical help, but I could send a quick message to all the prayer warriors I know. Prayer is our greatest asset and I was going to call out for as much of it as I could get.

Many of you have prayed, and I ask that you continue to do so, because as of 8pm, we have not heard any update on her condition.

Now for the final part of my story. By the time we finished our chapati making, my toe was significantly swollen and has a lovely array of blue and purple. It was significantly harder to walk, even with a limp. Of course, we always hear that toe injuries can't be helped anyway, so just to live with it. In fact, I've broken more than one little toe myself. However, we've also always heard that the big toe is different; that its more important. So, I made it to the guest house (which is not where we're staying, but half way from our family group location to the house where we are staying). Fortunately, the boys were at the water tower helping some girls pump water, so I was able to request their assistance. Troy ran to let Floyd know that I'd just be staying at the guest house until dinner, since that's where we eat, because walking was too difficult. He also brought me back some reading material. Now, I did manage to get some pretty cold water to soak my foot and there was a freezer pack in the guest house that was only partially thawed out, since power has been out for a while now. We thought that would help with the swelling. At this point, the hypothesis is that I've broken my big toe, or at best, severely jammed/dislocated it. Once again, I'm faced with the reality of a third world country. My big toe could be easily examined and taken care of at almost any clinic or hospital in America, but here it is a totally different story. As of now, we're planning for me to go to the clinic and see what they say in the morning. Perhaps they'll know what to do. So, either I'm looking forward to some pain as they potentially put my toe back in place tomorrow, or I could be looking at some issues when I get home in August if it does have something wrong and heals incorrectly, or doesn't heal by then.


The toe, for those of you who might want to see it. :)


You get the top and the bottom. Isn't it lovely.

So, I'm not saying that America is a better place or anything like that. But of course, there are many conveniences that everyone takes for granted. Of course, we might say that hospitals and emergency assistance are are not conveniences, but whatever you might call them, they are a blessing that we should not take for granted.

Today I was slapped in the face by the reality of life in the bush of Uganda and I know that for many the reality is even worse than a troubled child delivery and definitely worse than a broken toe. Believe me, I don't live in denial or in a bubble, I just had some reminders today. While we are spoiled with electricity and clean water at least part of the time, that is not the reality of every day life here for those we come to serve. While we may experience great joy and abundant love here, there is also great suffering.

Please don't let our fun updates let you forget that we are in Uganda for a reason. That reason is to share the Gospel wherever we can and to be the hands and feet of Jesus, showing His love to all of his children-especially those that may feel forgotten.

Field Day at Kasana

That's right...we helped to judge the events for the Primary School's Field Day today! The morning started at 9:00 when we all headed to the large soccer field at the edge of the property. Each of the families, along with the students that attend school here but don't live at Kasana, are part of a Color Group. There are 7 groups total: yellow, orange, purple, red, pink, green, and blue. The Pacific Family, that we are paired with, is part of the Red Team. And boy did they have spirit!! They were dancing, chanting, banging on a drum, and blowing a horn. Many of the other teams also had spirit. They held banners with their team color on them, or had flags they were waving around. But I would go so far as to say the Red Team topped them all.

 Here is the Pacific Family cheering before the games began!

When we arrived at the field, we were asked to be the judges to determine the order that the children finished each event. In order to do so, we were given cards with the numbers 1-7 written on them. We stood on the side-lines and as the children approached, we had to determine who came in 1st, 2nd, etc. and gave them the corresponding number. Some of the events were very close, but no one seemed to disagree with our decisions.

Some of the events they completed in were the 100 meter dash, running while jump-roping, a relay where they had to use a wet handkerchief to fill up a glass soda bottle with water, and a relay where they had to carry an egg across the field on a spoon without using hands (they had to hold the spoon in their mouth). It was very fun to be a part of these events.

After the games, everyone headed to the assembly area, to watch the singing competition. I know we've mentioned that the theme for the Primary School is "In Christ Alone." That means that they have been practicing that song for the last few weeks, and today, we were able to listen to all 7 color teams sing "In Christ Alone". If we didn't know it before, we now know that song very well! :)

All in all, it was a great day! We are definitely tired, though, from being out in the sun all day, and are looking forward to a nice, relaxing afternoon!

More excitement to come....

Kim

Reflections on prayer and sacrifice, by Tamra

Yesterday in our morning devotion the topic was "Strenuous Praying." To give you some idea, it referred to a few scriptures, Heb 5:7-Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with strong cryings and tears; and Col 4:12-Epaphras...is always wrestling for you in his prayers. The word agonize comes from the word used in Col. for wrestling. It is used also to describe a man toiling at his work (Col 1:29), a warrior on a battlefield (I Tim 6:12), and striving in the arena for a prize (I Cor 9:25).
This entire devotional was quite convicting, in a good sense. Not meaning that it made me feel guilty but called me to evaluate my prayers and the purpose of them. If it weren't plagiarism, I'd type the whole thing here so that you could glean from it; however, I'll just stick to the one part that has really been pressed on my mind for the last 48 hours.
"True intercession is costly...'Are we asking of God something we could ourselves supply? Can it be intercession until we are empty handed? True intercession demands the sacrifice and dedication of all. Have we given ourselves and all we can for those for whom we intercede, or are our prayers costless and cross-less?" (World Prayer, Effective Prayer, by J Oswald Sanders).
I admit this quote got me. In our mission participation, I have often said that we cannot expect people to sacrifice for something that we ourselves do not deem worthy of our own sacrifice. Every mission trip we've ever done has been at significant personal sacrifice financially and in other ways. For example, we have not been on any vacation of any sort since we went camping for Spring Break in 2009 because since that time, Floyd has used every single vacation day and personal day to help cover some of his missed days while in Uganda. All other days were docked (except one year his gracious employer chose to pay him for the entire 17 days). The last two years, our children have put in their birthday money, Christmas money, and much of their allowance. Now, none of this is to boast or say that we regret it. It is only to demonstrate what I mean about sacrificing for what one feels is worthy. We have been greatly blessed by others who have joined our team in prayer and finances. We have also been blessed in countless ways by what we have experienced and witnessed in our missions experiences.
Oher than the fact that people pray for missions support, it might seem that I've gone off topic here, but let me connect my two points. Praying should be the primary work that we do in all aspects of the Christian journey. This point here in the devotional, however, points out that when we are capable of meeting a need ourselves, we don't need to spend time wrestling with The Lord on behalf of the person in need. The Lord has already provided for the need, you just need to pass it on to its intended recipient. (Now please do not go off making excuses and pointing out all the exceptions where this might not be true...enabling a sinner, something immoral, etc. we already have plenty of excuses, so lets except that generally speaking, this is true; otherwise you disagree entirely with my blog and you're entitled to your opinion.) :)
It seems to me that instead of looking at what we have been given as the Lord's provision for others, we look at ourselves and think of how blessed we are. Sadly, in America, many people who have more than enough for survival and even enjoy plenty of extras, look at other Americans and think they have some how been skipped over by God's blessing becasue the other people have even more than they do; but that could be a blogpost all by itself, so I'll stay on topic.
This evning I finished the biography that I've mentioned a few times, A Long Road to Hope. I have had the opportunity to read the stories of some of the people that I have met during my time here. Every night we go to family devotions. We enjoy the worship and the lesson, but afterwards we usually enjoy playing with the kids, visiting with the older children and the adults, and just spending time together. Also, every afternoon Raegan and Kim spend 2 hours at the baby house, and of course there are all the students we've worked with at the primary school and the adults we've met through different things. Most of the time I forget that they have all suffered in ways that I could never imagine. Either their parents abandoned them, were killed in the war, or died from some horrible disease. Then many of them were mistreated or neglected by other relatives because orphans are not important, they are just in the way. The thing is, while I know that they have all sorts of emotions that we don't experience during our short time here, they do experience joy and laughter and love because of Christ. Some of His people have committed their lives to living here (whether they are Ugandan or not) and countless others have committed financially over the years. These orphans are no longer fatherless.
Near the end of the book, there is a chapter titled "Blessed to Be a Blessing." They share about the missions that they participate in....building mud homes for people who have none, taking short trips to other areas of the country to serve those who have less, helping a stranger in the village who is ill or elderly...the list could go on. These who had so little and have suffered so greatly, realize what is important. They read Issaiah 58:10-11 and take it as truth. They know that this is what really matters. They still have very little by worldly standards, but they have what counts.

Read Isaiah 58:10-11 below and ask yourself some tough questions. Have you sacrificed for others? Do you carelsessly enjoy your blessings, as if they were meant for only you? Do you pray for God to provide for a need that he has already given you the means to meet? Will the promises of the verses be yours because you have met the qualifications?

Isaiah58:10-11
And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Praying the Promises of God

Hi Everyone...It's Kim!

I wanted to first take a moment to tell you about the devotional we read this morning. It focused on "praying the promises of God". It was a great reminder that we can trust that each of the promises in the Word of God will come true, because God made them, and He keeps His promises. We spent some time thinking about some of the promises we have in His word, and how we could pray for those promises. Floyd reminded us about the promise that one day Christ will return, and we prayed that we would be ready for His return. Tamra reminded us that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So we prayed that the Lord of the harvest would send out more workers. Since we know that God desires all men to come to a saving knowledge of Him, we can pray with confidence that He will rise up men and women for that purpose. I've been reading Ephesians and was reminded of the promise that when we believe in Christ, God identifies us as His own by giving us the Holy Spirit. I've been convicted with how much I really think about the awesomeness of having God Himself living in me. I fear that too often I ignore his voice, or I decide to do things the way I want to, rather than seeking His guidance or direction. So my prayer this morning was that we would be reminded of the presence of God within each of us. What an amazing gift to be given. Our final prayer was that we would be filled with a hunger and thirst to know the Word of God so that we might know the promises of God more deeply and be able to claim them for ourselves. May that be the prayer of us all!

I also wanted to share a little with you about the family group that we were paired with, and the devotional time we join them for each night. I'm sure we've mentioned before that we have been joined with the Pacific Family Group. We began joining their family for nightly devotions last week, and on Tuesday night, we had the opportunity to lead the devotional time. Floyd brought his guitar and we led them in several worship songs. Then we decided to take them through the gospel message using the gospel beads we have with us. Much like Rafe has had us do in our meetings, we each took a different bead so that we each had something to talk about. Floyd started us out by telling about the "dark" bead. Rafe would be proud to know that he began at the beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden .:)  Tamra talked about the "red" bead, I talked about the "white" bead, Troy had the "blue" bead", Raegan covered the "green" bead, and Tyler volunteered for the "gold" bead. Floyd wrapped it all up for us by covering the symbolism of the butterfly. It was very exciting for us to have the opportunity to "practice" our gospel bead presentation with our family. They even had one of the boys interpret for us, so it was a very good way for us to practice having to stop after each phrase to allow time for him to interpret! We were able to give each of the family group members a bracelet of their own so that they can share the story with their friends.We plan to leave extra bracelets so that as they share, they can give a bracelet to that person (much like we do during the clinics).

I don't know if Tyler's had a chance to tell you much about his experience with sharing the beads with his classmates, but I wanted to take a moment to tell you about it. We asked one of the teachers, Uncle Joshua, if it would be possible for Tyler to go through the meaning of the beads with the class. Well, he was so excited about Tyler sharing the gospel, that he suggested sharing it with both classes...at the same time (50+ kids)!! The kids were very excited, and listened very well while Tyler shared the story with them. Uncle Joshua even had them repeat the meaning of each bead back at the end of the presentation to make sure they really understood each one. I noticed several of them wearing the beads the next day. We hope it will be a good visual reminder of all that God has done for them!

Here are some pictures...

 Here is Tyler standing in front of the group. Uncle Joshua is to the right. There are even more kids sitting off to the left, but I could not fit everyone in the picture.

Here is a picture of some of the boys following along with Tyler as he went through the meaning of each bead.

We hope to have more opportunities to share the gospel message during our time here at New Hope!

Continue to pray for open hearts!

My First Boda Boda Ride / The Radio Station

Hi everyone... it's Floyd:

Today was quite the day for me. It began with the knowledge that I would be going to Kiwoko
(Chee-wo-ko) to visit the radio station and work on some computer issues there. It never even occurred to me what method of transportation I would be taking to get there. I just assumed I would be picked up in a car. Oops!!! Not the case. Much to my surprise I was greeted by a Boda Boda driver (motorcycle driver) who would be taking me the 3 kilometers to the radio station. NOW WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE!!!!

First of all let me share with you my feelings about motorcycles. DEATH TRAPS!!! I have never nor will I ever have a desire to get onto a motorcycle of any kind. In my opinion they are not safe and I of all people (with my driving record) do not need to be on one. With that said, driving on a Boda Boda here is much different than in the States. Here is a short list of differences:

1) Right of Way Laws - They simply do not apply here. Vehicles have the right of way. Everyone else must get out of the way.
2) The Roads - We are not talking about smooth concrete or asphalt roads here. We are talking about dirt roads covered with rocks, completely un-leveled, full of potholes, with dirt and dust flying about everywhere. There is a reason many Boda Boda drivers use dirt bikes here instead of the standard motor bike.
3) There Is Nothing To Hold On To: Need I say more???? No handles, no back support, no holding the driver (which I thought about doing on several occasions and held back for fear of d emasculating myself).
4) Death Tolls - The death rate for people on Boda Bodas here is not good. And if you are hit by a vehicle, the rules here state that the driver of the other vehicle not stop to render aid but to drive as quickly as possible to the police station to avoid being injured by the surrounding crowd that may decide to provide some quick civilian justice.

Needless to say.... I was not amused. Here I am getting set for the journey. Notice the backpack on my back? Yeah... that didn't help things at all!!!
















Now I will let you see a little video of the beginning of our journey that Tamra took. If you listed closely you can hear only three words uttered from my lips. "Pray for me."

The ride was bumpy and I remember bugs and dirt flying in my face as we made our way to Kiwoko. It was interesting to see the looks on people's faces as we passed them on the road. Walkers and cattlemen; even other people on Boda Bodas. I could almost read their minds. "Who is this Muzungu riding on the Boda Boda? Where is he going?" I smiled and waved and just did my best to look like a pro who had done this a million times. I must say that once we got to the radio station, I was happy to be there.

Below is a picture of the radio station and then another of the  sign they use declaring is so.

 Take a look at the 1st picture of the radio station again. Notice in the top right corner of the picture and red and white tower. Uh..... Yeah....

No sooner did I walk into the radio station did the station manager greet me and walk me over to the antenna station. He informed me that they had been having issues getting on the internet and wanted me to see if I could fix it. So I walked into the antenna station and proceeded to plug my laptop into their system, only to find that there was no signal coming from antenna receiving the WiFi signal. And try to guess where in the world that WiFi receiver was...... Yep.... on that stinkin' tower!!!

Here is the view from the ground.

 Here is the view from halfway up. Couldn't bring myself to take a pic from the top. There wasn't much to hold on to and what I did have a hold of was not comforting.

You can see my foot in the picture. I am the only one here with blue and green tennis shoes. This should make my Eagle's Wings peeps proud. Sporting the colors 18,000 miles away.

Here is the view out from halfway. Yep. Higher than the electric poles. As I said.... halfway up. I remember saying to myself repeatedly "What are you doing??? What have you got yourself into???" Remember, I had nothing tethering me to the antenna. Just a hand grip..... that's it.

Finally I got to the top and reached my objective. The WiFi receiver. All this just to swap out a cable. The thing that will really stink is if I get back down only to find that this isn't the problem.

I failed to mention that I had to carry 150 feet of cable up the tower with me. It was gathered in a loop and I had my arm through it and on my shoulder. Sorry I couldn't bring myself to take a picture from the top. It was hard enough just to get this one.

Anyway...I made it safely back down (my hands and arms were really tired at this point) and got back to the laptop. Signal was good now and problem resolved. Whew!!!


I worked on a few other things (slow cpu issues and wireless internet connections) and then got back on the Boda Boda. Off we went back to New Hope. I was more confident on the way back and just rode the bumps as if I was riding a horse. I'm sure I would be okay to be on one in the future.....but I want to be driving. I need more control of the situation.

That's my adventure. Stays tuned for more of our experiences...

I'd never prayed for favor before...by Tamra

I know that we've already shared some of the events from our trip to Kawempe on Sunday, but there is one other thing that has been on my mind, so I hope you'll grant me the favor of returning to that trip once more. Before I do, I'd like to give you a little background info.

I've been reading a few different things during the last month. Of course, I've spent some time in the word, specifically in Daniel, Acts, and John. During this reading, I've seen some statements where someone either prayed for favor or was given favor with someone else.  

I've also been reading The Long Road to Hope, by Jennie G Dangers (oldest daughter of Uncle Jay and Auntie Vickey). This book is the story of New Hope from the beginning up to the publishing of the book in 2006. In this book, there are also instances of people praying for or being granted favor. There are also some stories of great struggle here in Uganda. Stories about being robbed at gunpoint, difficulties with authority, and all sorts of other things. Just like in America, most of the people are good and don't mean to harm anyone, but there are always those who are up to no good and seek only to gain for themselves at any cost. 

So, with this in mind, I take you back to Sunday morning. The drive to Kawempe was roughly 2 hours. We had to sit through many construction stops when the road was down to one lane. At one point, maybe half way through the journey, I suddenly felt the van stopping. I looked up (as i had been reading) to see that we were really in the middle of nowhere and I could see no reason for us to pull over on the side of the road. At this point, I looked behind me and saw a couple of people dressed in police uniforms. 

Now pause here....in one of the last stories I read in the aforementioned  biography the family is robbed in their own home by 2 men in military uniforms carrying AK47s. These men began with the story that they had a warrant and needed to search the house looking for harbored spies. Of course, this was all a farce and they really just took everything they thought was valuable. 

So, I see these 2 officers and wonder what's going on. One officer walks up to the driver's window and begins talking. I have no idea what she's saying because I'm in the very backseat of the van and can't hear them. 

I see the driver hand over his ID. The officer then starts pointing to the window stickers (sort of like what we have in Texas to show that you've passed inspection and are registered). Apparently the driver is missing one of the stickers on the window. He gets out of the car and walks around with the officer, as she is pointing to the window and talking. The other officer is now with them, and both he and the driver are doing something. At this point, I've just begun praying that The Lord gives the driver (and us) favor with these officers.

For a short moment, I could not see the driver or the male officer, but the female officer was still standing at the front of the vehicle. The window decals are on the passengers side, so the officer was standing right next to Floyd's window. At this time, she greets him and they make general polite conversation for a moment, and then the officer asks where we're going. Floyd told her we were going to Kawempe and, of course, she asked why. He explained that we knew the pastor and had friends at Victory Living Word Church, so we were traveling to join them for Sunday service. I'm not really sure if she knew the name of the church, but she seemed too. Either that, or the specific church didn't matter so much as that we were going to church.

The other officer and driver came back around the vehicle and the male officer was saying something to the driver. The woman told the male officer we were heading to services at Victory Living Word and soon the driver was back in his seat. She then told the driver that as soon as we got back from church to find the sticker and put it in the window. "It is very important," she said. Then she smiled and they let us go on our way.

Now perhaps this was the plan all along, but either way, God did grant our driver favor that morning. Floyd later asked him what sticker was missing and he told us it was the insurance sticker. Yes, that is important!

Next time you find yourself in a jam, rather than trying to find your own way out, perhaps God is just waiting for you to pray for His favor in that situation. 

Malaria Dreams...Strike Again!! (By Kim)

I guess I should say "Anti-malaria medication dreams strike again" but that was a longer title than I wanted to use. You get the gist though. I've now had 2 very strange dreams right after taking the anti- malaria medication. Both Dr. Brock and Dr. Rankins warned us this is one of the side effects, but everyone says it never happens to them. Lucky Me!! I'm used to taking the daily pill, and I never had a problem with that. But apparently the weekly pill affects me more.

Last week I had a dream that one of my co-workers and a former student both hanged themselves in the supply closet at school. Then last night, I had a dream that we went to see a play and the actors and some of the audience were being killed right in front of us. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant way to wake up in the morning.

I'm not sure why all of my "crazy malaria dreams" involve people dying, but I'd really like it to stop!!

On another note...we learned a little about the fuses inside the converters we're using so that we can plug in our electronic devices here. We still have power today (something we are very thankful for), so our devices are charging. However, when Tamra plugged the iron into the power chord, we lost power. At first we thought it was just a cruel coincidence that we lost power just as Tamra was about to iron the clothes, but then we realized there was still power in all the rooms...just nothing coming from our outlet. We then tried plugging in the second converter we have. Power was back...until we plugged the iron back into the power chord! It blew another fuse.

Luckily, after much investigation, Tamra and I discovered that there was a spare fuse in the back of each converter. This means, however, that we no longer have a spare, and we'll have to be very careful so that we don't cause these last 2 fuses to blow!

Now, you might be asking, "Why in the world are you worrying about ironing your clothes?" That is a good question...and let me assure you that it has nothing to do with wrinkles! Apparently, as clothes are drying out on the lines, mango flies get in them and lay their eggs. Then, when you wear your clothes, the eggs hatch and get into your skin...or something like that. So when you iron your clothes, the heat kills the mango fly eggs and prevents this from happening.

We are happy to say that we found another way to plug in the iron without blowing any more fuses! Apparently, the iron doesn't need a converter, and plugs into the outlet just fine. This is good news indeed. Tamra got her ironing done, our devices are still charging, and we have a fun story to share! I even have a picture...

Here are the two blown fuses! Someone from our team may be getting a request to bring us some spares, so be ready!

Life is definitely never boring here! More to come...

American Church - Do We Limit Our Time With God???

Hello everyone… Floyd here:

Yesterday was quite a busy day. I know that Kim and Tamra have already blogged about it so I will not discuss what they already covered. But I did want to share something I experienced yesterday. The church service at Victory Living Word Church began with music, as most church services do. But when one compares the music at VLW with that of what we experienced the week before here at New Hope; it was night and day. The music yesterday was fast and furious with an exhausting tempo that could really make you pour yourself out in worship if you let yourself go and just experience God in the moment. You could really have a David like worship and “dance before the Lord”. It reminded me so much of the music I have experienced and loved so much at the church plants – I felt like I was home.

Now admittedly, this is the first time I have truly felt this since being here. I blogged several days ago about how peaceful New Hope was and how I could see myself in this environment from a living condition standpoint – and I can. But I really felt at home at VLW. It was my kind of music and my kind of worship. It was great to experience it again.

As Kim noted in her blog, the opening set was approximately 50 minutes long. I LOVED IT!!! It got me thinking again about our American services. Being the worship leader and planning the music at church at home does give me a unique perspective regarding this subject. So I am about to get on my soap box here. Read on if you dare…

Why do we as Americans (in general) put time limits on our worship time with God??? Is the football game coming on TV so darn important??? Is there a reason that little Johnny’s soccer game has to be on Sunday mornings or early Sunday afternoon???  When did our external activities become more important than time with God??? Why is it that we insist on the sermon not being too long and music not being too long??? I mean seriously…. I know it’s really tiring having to stand for a 5 song set. Those 16 minutes were soooo exhausting!!!! Seriously?!?! Most of the people barely move the entire time anyway.

Why is that that when I am planning a music set I have to be sure the service doesn't go over a certain amount of time? I understand the childcare issue. An hour and a half away from mom and dad can be overload for the kids and their teachers; but is that it??? After the kids it’s just because there are more important things to do??? More important that time with God???  I know that time with God is not relegated to the corporate worship service; but in truth, how many really spend time worshiping God outside of it? I would be willing to bet it isn't many.

How about this? Let’s plan a service with an opening set of an hour and scale back as the Spirit moves. Let’s plan for more time with God, and if He decides that we have done enough, He will instruct the Holy Spirit to tell us so. And if the kids get a little restless in childcare, why not try what the Ugandans do? Bring them into the worship center and lay down a blanket and let them go to sleep.  It seems like such a simple thing. I experienced 3 hours of worship and teaching yesterday and never once was it hindered or obstructed by the kids in the front or the back. Want to know why??? They know what to do in church. They know how to behave in church. They have been conditioned to sit and listen, sing and participate, and when they get tired they sleep. Simple as that. So the adults are free to experience God until He says they are done.  Yes they also take the young kids out and play with them and teach them, but then they come back. One of the most amazing things I witnessed was children dancing with the music during the opening worship set. It gave me such a great feeling to see them unencumbered; just dancing before the Lord. If only we were like children with our worship…

So am I saying that every service should be 3 hours long? No. Should the end of the service be open to allowing for that? Absolutely!!! And if you have to leave for some reason and church is not over yet, get up and leave. Let each person (along with the Holy Spirit) decide for themselves if the Spirit says they have worshiped enough. But do we really need to decide ahead of time that God is going to move for 75 minutes and 75 minutes only??? We might be depriving ourselves and God from a worship experience He had planned for us. But because we limit the time we give Him, we potentially miss out on the fullness He had to offer us and that we had to offer Him.

Please do not go away thinking that I am leaving myself out of the equation. I need to hear it as much as anyone else. But I get the most frustrated when I feel the Spirit moving me to plan a 6 or 7 song opening set and have to ignore the Spirit due to time constraints. It has always just seemed off to me. I’m not saying that Ugandan church is better than American church. I am saying that there are aspects of Ugandan church that could make American church better… and vise-versa. But that part is better saved for anther discussion.

Now, is it dangerous for me to be saying this? Perhaps. I am the worship leader and the church is set in a specific time template. Is that going to change? I would have to say that it most likely won’t.  My only point is to demonstrate a gigantic contrast between the worship of the traditional American service structure and that of the people here. We are too busy to leave a blank end time in our services (or at least devote a longer period of time to it) and the people here have nothing but time – and they devote more of it to God.

I feel convicted…..Do you?

Another Monday, by Tamra

It's Monday again and time is moving quickly. I think we've sort of started to develop a routine and living here at New Hope is good. It's nice that we do not constantly have to worry about safety and all that sort of stuff. The New Hope property has very few entrances and the few gates are all manned by men watching the coming and going. Of course, we realize that there is no guarantee of safety, it is still more peaceful than if we were in a random community not knowing anyone else.

I know Kim has already talked a bit about our trip to Kawempe to visit Victory Living Word Church. It was great to see a few friends and make new acquaintances. I for one really enjoyed our take out lunch. Hopefully I'll be able to transfer pictures from my camera soon and you'll be able to see all the great things we're talking about. 

I also greatly enjoyed our special visit from the children's choir here at Kasana.  They are very talented. All of the music they sang for us was original music written by someone here at New Hope.

I guess no one mentioned our wonderful walk on Saturday. The boys were exercising with our family, as Uncle Rukundo had invited them to join all the boys from 11-1, so the rest of us went for a walk during that time. We wondered out on the New Hope property and went to the secondary sight. We had heard there are pigs and a pond. We came upon Unlce Jay and Auntie Vickey as they were working on the banana trees outside their home. We had a lovely little visit and then Unlce Jay gave us a bit of directions and pointed us on down the trail. We did come upon a pond and lots of other natural exhibits. This was one day we were definitely ready for lunch when time rolled around, as our walk had burned some energy. 

Today has also been quite busy. Read on to see a detailed description of my Monday. At breakfast, a young man who is here with a small team from Hillsdale College told me that he would be joining me to tutor the students. Since I've already been working with the students, I was able to let him know what to work on with each of them and give him some pointers. I arranged to meet him at 9:15, then I headed to the house to do laundry. Somehow time had passed way faster than I thought and the StanClan has a ton of laundry. I was able to get all of my stuff washed in the first cycle by hand, and moved to another bucket to soak. Then I started Floyd's stuff to soak. I realized my time had already passed and I had to rush up to the school (it's an uphill walk). :)

Jonathan and I were able to tutor all of the P7 students (except 3 who were absent) before their break time at 10:40. The students all break for porridge everyday at 10:40, then from 11-11:30 they have Bible reading. We don't pull them out of Bible reading because it is most important. So, during this time, I ran back to the house and got my clothes finished and on the line and all of Floyd's washed and on the line, except his socks, which I left soaking.

I returned to the school and Jonathan and I were able to tutor all of the P6 students before lunch at 1pm. At that time, I walked to the guest house for lunch, where Floyd and Troy were already waiting. As lunch was set out, Kim, the kids and I walked over to The Forge, where we bought cold sodas to go with our lunch and Omo (the soap that they use for general laundry washing). The sodas were cold because the electricity had been on for most of Sunday afternoon and just went off around 6:30 this morning. At less than $.50 a piece, it was an affordable treat for everyone.

After lunch, I walked with Floyd back to our house to get our money, then to the business office to pay for yesterday's transportation and arrange our transportation for next week. Of course, it started to rain just as I was leaving. I knew it could rain for a while, so I decided to hope the sprinkling would stay long enough for me to make it back to the house. I got a bit wet, but it wasn't too bad. Now I'm sitting here typing this blog. Then I'll finish Floyd's socks, which are still sitting in the bucket, then I'll take a walk and after that it will be getting close to dinner time. After dinner, we'll go to family devotions with our family (Pacific Family), then we'll walk home, take showers and settle in for the evening. 

What a blessing it is to be here! 

Pray that the laundry dries quickly, as I couldn't do any of the kids stuff. There wasn't enough room on the line for anything else after I finished mine and Floyd's. I definitely won't let so many days pass before I do laundry again. ;)

Also, pray for our ministry partners at VLW Church and Christ Fellowship, as they prepare for the youth conference starting next week and the church plant the following week. 

Seeing friends.

So as some of you know we went to Victory on Sunday and we saw Joan,Dorothy and more people that we know from last year . It was a 3hour service but apart from that it was good.And I'm going to share the gospel beads with our family group and with my class.It will be fun to be on the church  plant again . It will be nice to see some of you again.

                                   Talk to you soon
                                                              Tyler

An Exciting Sunday

We had quite an exciting Sunday here in Uganda. We have been looking forward to visiting our partners at Victory Living Word Church, and we were finally able to make it happen today. I know we talk about them a lot, but for those of you that don’t know, VLWC is the church we partner with here in Uganda during the Church Planting Trip. They help us interpret during the clinics, get everything ready for the nightly crusades (building the stage, etc), and they do an amazing job during the crusades by singing, dancing, and performing skits. I was very excited that we got to watch their Mass Choir perform today. This particular group sings and dances. Now, when I say “dances” I mean, they really know how to dance!!! They have matching outfits and choreographed moves and everything. I could watch them for hours. Floyd commented after the service that the beginning worship set was 50 minutes. That didn’t count when the Mass Choir came up and danced (which I would guess was another 15-20 minutes). In all, the service lasted a little over 3 hours! You won’t find that happening often in American churches, but it was great! We just enjoyed worshiping together. I'm not sure if we'll make it there again for a Sunday, but it was definitely the highlight of my week!

After church, we had lunch with Pastor Johnson and his family. We didn’t have time to go out to a restaurant, so we had Ugandan “fast food.” It was like going to the grocery store and selecting food from the prepared deli section. We just pointed at what we wanted, and they boxed it up for us to take back to the church to eat. I got rice and chapati, Raegan tried the goat stew, Tamra had beef and chapati (her favorite) and a spaghetti type dish, and Floyd and the boys wanted to try a variety of pastry items (like donuts and muffins). We discovered that they are not the same as American donuts...no glaze! Tamra took some pictures, so we’ll share those later.

After we ate, Pastor Johnson invited us to stay for their Church Planting Trip meeting. If you’ve ever been to one of our mission meetings with Rafe, let me just tell you…it is nothing like it (smile)!! For one thing, the meeting was supposed to begin at 3:00, but since no one was there, they waited until 4:00 to begin. Pastor Johnson reminded us that we are in Uganda now! We were not able to stay for the whole meeting, as we had a 2 hour drive back to New Hope, but it was wonderful to see the team we will be working with in the next few weeks. I have no doubt that God will continue to do amazing things through this trip, and I look forward to all the things He’s going to teach us through our partners.

When we got home, we found out that the children’s choir here at New Hope was going to perform for us. Although we were tired after a long day, we definitely wanted to see this, and we were not disappointed. They are such a neat group of children, and the message they tell in their songs is wonderful. They shared with us tonight that they travel around Uganda singing to various groups. We bought their CD, and I'm excited to "bring them home with me" in August.

Tomorrow is Monday, and we will return to, what is becoming, our normal routine. Floyd will be in the office working on computers. Tamra and I will tutor students at the primary school. Raegan, Troy, and Tyler will go to classes or work on their own school work, and then Raegan will go with me to work in the Baby House in the afternoon. That is quickly becoming my favorite part of the day! Here are some pictures of the absolutely adorable “babies” I get to love on. 

Jabez is showing me his stuffed Lion. We were roaring at each other earlier, which gets them all very excited!

Everyone loves bubbles...well except for Mary (pink pants) who is not so sure she likes all the squealing and jumping!

Well, I better go get some sleep if I want to have enough energy to work with this crew tomorrow. They certainly do keep you on your toes. We continue to pray for you all, and look forward to continuing to update you on what God is doing here in Uganda!

Kim

Some challenging thoughts...

Hi Everyone! This is Kim. It's been a few days since I've written, so I'll try to update you on what life has been like over the last few days. First, however, I wanted to share something with you that really challenged me. I've been reading a book called "Born for Battle" as part of my daily devotional time, and last night I came across a section that really struck a chord with me. The author writes...

In the warfare of the church on earth, it seems to me that the number of those using their weapons is on par with the World War 2 statistic (only one man in four had made some use of his fire power). We sing, "Like a mighty army, moves the church of God," but if only one out of four in our envangelical churches is using his weapons, our attitude gives the lie to our profession. If three-fourths of those on church membership rolls are so uncertain and confused about their role in the conflict, or so paralyzed by fear that they do not use their weapons, then victory will obviously be that much longer in coming. The gospel moves at a slow and timid pace when the saints are not at their prayers early and late and long. (emphasis mine)

Since the Stanley's and I have also been reading the "World Prayer" book for our morning devotions, this quote really stood out to me.  In fact, ironically enough the section we read this morning was called "praying for missionaries." We talked about how easy it is to be in prayer BEFORE you go on a trip because you are constantly thinking about and preparing for it. But once you arrive, you become so busy "doing" that you forget to spend time praying. This should not be the case. In fact, we were challenged today to remember that prayer is the most important thing we can do here in Uganda. Yes, we may be working in the schools or in the office, we may be loving on the children here, and we may have opportunities to share the gospel message with those that do not have a relationship with Jesus, but our most important task while we are here is to pray without ceasing!  I've really been challenged with this idea, especially since life is so much slower-paced here and I find I have that much more "free" time. What a better use of that time than to be on my knees praying and "making use of my fire power".

On a lighter note (smile), the weather has been AMAZING these last few days. It is raining once again, which means the weather has cooled down dramatically. Who woulda thought that you have to come to Africa to have nice, cool weather for the summer!
I'm continuing to help out at the primary school. I've spent most of my time grading papers and helping the teachers with other tasks, but yesterday I was able to pull some students for one-on-one tutoring. I hope to have more opportunities to work with the students. In addition to working with the students, I will begin working at the Baby House here at New Hope for a few hours each afternoon. Much like it's name, it is a house where babies live until they are able to be adopted or joined with a family group. I am very excited for how the Lord might use me in the lives of such precious little ones.
As for sharing the gospel here at New Hope, we talked with one of the teachers today about finding a time for Tyler to share the gospel beads with his class. As we've mentioned before, since this is a christian organization,  there has not been much opportunity to share the gospel with the people here. However, we thought it would be wonderful practice for Tyler, Troy, and Raegan to share with the students in their classes. We'd also like to share it with our Family Group one night.
We've also been trying to practice our Luganda as much as possible. Everyone speaks English here, so we haven't had much practice, but each time we're with our Family Group, we try to ask them a few words or practice what we already know! You should see the looks we get here when we say something in Luganda. It's just not done here a lot!
Other than that, there's not much to tell today. Raegan is feeling much better after taking her 3rd dose of malaria medication, so we are thankful for that. And we are very thankful to have figured out why we were without power for so long! We did ask for an authentic experience, so I guess we can't complain too much!
I hope everyone back home is doing well. We miss and love you guys! Thank you for continuing to join with us each day of our journey.

There Is POWER!!! / Delusions or God Talking???

Hello Everyone. Floyd here...

I think I will start by addressing the first and most exciting part of my post's title: There Is POWER!!! After several days with no power (several hours of which were unnecessary due to an unknown breaker Tamra already blogged about) and as a result no shower or toilet water, the power has been restored!!! Now obviously this is for a limited time only as the power will inevitably return to its "OFF" status, but it is nice to be able to see what you are doing in the house for a bit and shower without trying to get the flashlight to stay in just the right place. So the lights are on and the water reservoir filled. Praise God for the small things in life, right?!?!

Now on to the second part of my title: Delusions or God Talking??? I do not remember if Tamra blogged about this or not, but I was thinking on it tonight and so I thought I would think about it out loud and see what the rest of you think. Earlier this morning when Tamra was walking Raegan back from the clinic and her  Malaria diagnosis (see Tamra's earlier blog to get details on that), Raegan made a statement that caught Tamra a bit off guard and has been in my head for a good part of the day. While walking back to the house, Raegan said, "I wish we could live here", or something to that effect. Now the question is was this Raegan being just slightly delirious as her body was fighting malaria, was it Raegan just sharing how she was really feeling about this place, or was it perhaps I (and I would say that the 2nd and 3rd options could go together) that there was a little bit of God talking there??? I must say that I don't have the answer to this question but it would not surprise me if God were to use one of the kids to make a statement to us. Admittedly, we have been praying and asking that God would give us direction on what He wants us to do and where He wants us to do it. And I must also admit that I haven't felt like God has really given me any direction on the matter whatsoever. Don't get me wrong. I have greatly enjoyed my time here and as stated in previous blogs, I could totally see us living here and serving here. But I haven't had that "aha" moment  where God said, "This is the place". So is it possible that God is speaking to us in a very small way via Raegan??? What are your thoughts?

On a side note, I guess we will really know who reads these blogs based on who responds. Unless you have nothing to say, which is fine, be we would love to hear from you on the matter. One cannot have enough good Christian counsel.

Anyway... please pray for Raegan as she fights off the malaria and that God would give some clear direction on what He wants us to do from here. Until then, we are content to follow on with the current plan and live for Him day by day. Hope things are great in your lives.

Can't think of a catchy title for this update :)

Good afternoon, everyone. It's about 4:15 here and this is Tamra.
Since I shared with you that Raegan has malaria, I'll first tell you that she is still asleep. She went back to bed about 9am. I woke her at 11am to take her first round of medicine with some chapati. When I checked on her about 2:15pm she woke up for a few minutes, and that was the last time so far. We'll definitely get her up for dinner to take her second round of meds. Other than that, there really isn't anything to say.
To get her some chapati (a flat read, similar to a tortilla but with more oil and a not so soft dough), I had a little adventure in patience. She could have just drank milk, as it has fat in it, but she didn't want milk and is somewhat lactose intolerant. Since we knew that chapati is a fried bread, made with a good deal f vegetable oil, that was my next choice. I also knew that Floyd said they sold it in the late morning at the office for 300 shillings ($1 is about 2500 shillings).
Floyd said they usually had it around 10am, so I started up to the office about 9:40. At 10, I was told between 10 & 10:15. At 10:12, I was told between 10:15 & 10:30. At 10:32, I was told 10:30, so it should be any minute. At 10:45, I resolved myself that I would shave to give up and do something else. Then, finally, just before giving up, I was able ton acquire a few pieces and made my way back to the house.
This was definitely a test of patience because I had not brought a book to read or anything else to do. As Floyd has shared, the office is very quiet! There was one really good thing that came from my standing at the office so long. The head construction guy came by and Floyd introduced me. Earlier this morning I had gone by The Forge to see if they had any chapati for sell and noticed that they had electricity. This was this second place that I'd been who had electricity and, to our understanding, were on the same supply as our house. We had inquired but no one knew why our power would still be out, but said sometimes different phases are out when others are on. Floyd asked this head construction guy if he knew of any reason that we wouldn't have power when others did. He said, either our phase is still out or the secondary breaker had been thrown. What!?!? There is a secondary breaker?! He told us where we would find it. When I returned to the house, I checked it. Sure enough that was our problem. The power had come back on yesterday but our breaker was thrown so we never knew. So we were able to turn on the water pump and refill the tank. Now, we just continue on and see how long it is before we lose power again. :) at least we now know to check the breaker!

One last thing. We were surprised with guests for lunch. Jay and Vickie Dangers and 2 of their children joined us at the guest house. Jay is the founder of New Hope. We had some wonderful spaghetti and great conversation.