This past, and last week in Uganda has provided for very good meetings with friends that I wanted to spend time with before I left. I was able to see my friend Lazerous race at the big “Mandella” stadium, (he got second place in the 200) and afterward, we enjoyed a meal with one another in a tiny restaurant by the side of the road. My friend Immanuel has been so nice, walking me half way home (this is called “giving me a push”). We also could spend tea time with one another the other day, playing Hawaiian checkers (which I’d brought)
Our housegirl has gone, and she took her son (Chafik). My understanding is that she’s to be married. Our mama knew about this for a short while, so she found another girl, whose name is Sarah. Something really neat has happened this semester at home, with my little brother Ronnie. He’s about 11 months old, and he’s learned to walk since I’ve been at home. I feel blessed to have witnessed this. (not to mention his smiling face at the littlest things.) The other day, Ronnie amazed me by eating a winged ant off the ground. He grimaced at first, but seemed to enjoy what went down after that. It’s been so fun to play with him and spend time just living with him.
We had a great opportunity recently, to play in “Olympic game” here at UCU. It happened to be American students vrs. Many of the friends which the on campus students have made. There were foot races, basketball, soccer, Frisbee, volleyball, and some post competition dancing too. This provided for weeks of perpetual fun as I would train in the neighborhood, letting our neighbors giggle at the sight of a white man running- I admit, I’m not as elegant in my form as a Ugandan usually is.
Something quite culturally tragic occurred as I walked through the dining hall a few days ago. I found myself delighted by the smell of matoke and gnut sauce, so I smelled my plate- only to see a few people around me laughing. Come to find out from a friend, it is extremely rude to do so. If only I’d learned this in one of my classes at Biola☺ All this to say, we’ve been very well nourished at meals, and tea times.
Tonight is our “Farewell Dinner”, in which we say thank you, and goodbye to the wonderful families which have hosted us throughout the semester. We will also be sharing a few stories from the semester, and hearing from our director. I have the privilege of representing the IMME program students by giving a "thank you" speech, so I’m both nervous and excited.
Thursday morning, we leave for a short study trip in Rwanda. We are departing from our home stays, and finishing papers. I do thank each of you for simply caring what this time in my life is like. Please feel welcomed to request further info about any part of this semester- including papers, thoughts from my journal, deeper experiences with friends, etc. God bless you so much!
Love, Geoff
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
We're closing out our last few class sessions this week and the next. We've had virturally a "reading week" to prepare for finals, so around the campus students can be seen enjoying the beauty of UCU land, which used to entirely be a forest/jungle on the side of monkey hill. (Regarding final assignments, we're going to be presenting to our program instructors a slide show of sorts as to what community engagement we've had this semester. Also, I have a final reflection paper due in Missions class, and a paper for ATR (African Traditional Religions class) addressing a common theme throughout Islam, ATR, and Christianity. For African Literature, I get to write an essay about the use of Scripture in two of our books from this semester ("A Grain of Wheat", and "Cry, the Beloved Country").
Our time of sharing in Community Worship went well- thank you for your prayers. Throughout the preparation, I think I learned more about taking initiative, listening to God's direction even amidst my own desires, and I was made to realise through dissagreements and confusions that God cares most about relationships (which of course, can be very hard to keep healthy). The passage the message team spoke on was Ephesians 1:17-24. The speaking went well- a fellow sister from Biola did that part, while I prayed:), and then after worship in music for a few songs accompanied by keyboard, guitar, and drums, we had a cardboard testimony time which was really neat- students from our program wrote notes of their life before Christ, and on the flipside they wrote of how Jesus has given them new life and hope. (Some of the notes are as follows: "I carried baggage from broken relationships-(flipside)-God taught me to forgive"; "I did not know that I am valued- God has shown me my worth"; "Pressured by Alcohol and Friends- I was redeemed through Jesus' Grace; "I struggled with lying to people I love- God is leading me in ways of Truth".
In the very beginning of the program, I should note, we had a play to the tune of a Lincoln Park song, in which we illustrated the importance of letting go of sin and "running to" Jesus. I was especially encouraged at that point, when I (being the sinner illustrated in turning from my old ways to Christ) fell into the arms of our brother who was playing Jesus- and almost everyone gathered for community worship that day, began to cheer for the decision:)
Easter was a day of celebration for a lot of people. I went for a short walk to Church and spent a time there enjoying service and fellowship, then I jaunted off to school for a special Easter meal (soda, matoke- which is steamed unripe banana, rice, posho- which is like rice mush, and gnut sauce- which is like purple, nonsticky, natural, unsweetened peanut butter). After this I went home for a tiny while to enjoy another soda with my little host brother Ronnie, then I travelled by foot with a brother in the Lord to his little Church about 45 minutes from the University. I had been introduced to him one day on campus as he rode his bycicle into the grounds and maintenance crew area, where he works. On Sunday, I got to meet his family, and walk through some georgeous land. (Funny thing is, they blessed me with a couple of hard boiled eggs and a mountain dew to enjoy as I visited with them- I was able to eat eggs afterall:), and I don't think I've had so much soda in one day!) The sunset was heavenly, and I had a lot of fun waving to children who were surprised to see a mzungu. I think I'm beginning to realize, as I reflect on missions class and Easter too I guess, that it's really good for me to be hearing or reminding myself of the Gospel everyday- even of the parts that I think I already know.
Recently, we traveled into Kampala to visit the Kabaka's (king's) palace (which he was not inhabiting at the time). It looks nice on the outside from what we could see, and just a little ways away is a small lake which was intended to originally become connected to Lake Victoria. We also were privaleged to visit the parlement and to learn a little more about the capital city (Kampala), and the governmental structure of Uganda. The other night, something really neat happened with a group of friends here from the school. We gathered at one of our host homes, and invited many of our Ugandan friends and classmates for spagetti and dancing. I dangerously helped with the cooking, while the others were swingdancing. After dinner, we grabbed the small drum and were privaleged to learn beautiful pieces of dance moves from different regions of Uganda. We have some very good friends:)
Lastly, we had a gigantic, but short-lived rain and wind storm here on saturday. I had to laugh, for a few reasons. One, I've never seen such fierce wind in my entire life, and the rain created little rivers within a matter of 10 minutes. Two, I'd given my keys to a friend so I was happily able to enjoy the wind and rain from the outside of the building. I had my small Bible and another book, so I enjoyed such literature at the back of the building where it formed a small corner for a short while. Amidst the storm, I heard a large crash, which spurred me to pray that people on campus would be protected. Little did I know, about 7 very large trees were uprooted and broken throughout the storm, and the one I'd heard happened to land about 10 feet away from me on the other side of our building breaking part of the roof. I know little else what to say, but: God's grace surely is sufficient for me.
May He continue to have the freedom to do as He pleases with each of our hearts and lives. Love,
Geoff
Our time of sharing in Community Worship went well- thank you for your prayers. Throughout the preparation, I think I learned more about taking initiative, listening to God's direction even amidst my own desires, and I was made to realise through dissagreements and confusions that God cares most about relationships (which of course, can be very hard to keep healthy). The passage the message team spoke on was Ephesians 1:17-24. The speaking went well- a fellow sister from Biola did that part, while I prayed:), and then after worship in music for a few songs accompanied by keyboard, guitar, and drums, we had a cardboard testimony time which was really neat- students from our program wrote notes of their life before Christ, and on the flipside they wrote of how Jesus has given them new life and hope. (Some of the notes are as follows: "I carried baggage from broken relationships-(flipside)-God taught me to forgive"; "I did not know that I am valued- God has shown me my worth"; "Pressured by Alcohol and Friends- I was redeemed through Jesus' Grace; "I struggled with lying to people I love- God is leading me in ways of Truth".
In the very beginning of the program, I should note, we had a play to the tune of a Lincoln Park song, in which we illustrated the importance of letting go of sin and "running to" Jesus. I was especially encouraged at that point, when I (being the sinner illustrated in turning from my old ways to Christ) fell into the arms of our brother who was playing Jesus- and almost everyone gathered for community worship that day, began to cheer for the decision:)
Easter was a day of celebration for a lot of people. I went for a short walk to Church and spent a time there enjoying service and fellowship, then I jaunted off to school for a special Easter meal (soda, matoke- which is steamed unripe banana, rice, posho- which is like rice mush, and gnut sauce- which is like purple, nonsticky, natural, unsweetened peanut butter). After this I went home for a tiny while to enjoy another soda with my little host brother Ronnie, then I travelled by foot with a brother in the Lord to his little Church about 45 minutes from the University. I had been introduced to him one day on campus as he rode his bycicle into the grounds and maintenance crew area, where he works. On Sunday, I got to meet his family, and walk through some georgeous land. (Funny thing is, they blessed me with a couple of hard boiled eggs and a mountain dew to enjoy as I visited with them- I was able to eat eggs afterall:), and I don't think I've had so much soda in one day!) The sunset was heavenly, and I had a lot of fun waving to children who were surprised to see a mzungu. I think I'm beginning to realize, as I reflect on missions class and Easter too I guess, that it's really good for me to be hearing or reminding myself of the Gospel everyday- even of the parts that I think I already know.
Recently, we traveled into Kampala to visit the Kabaka's (king's) palace (which he was not inhabiting at the time). It looks nice on the outside from what we could see, and just a little ways away is a small lake which was intended to originally become connected to Lake Victoria. We also were privaleged to visit the parlement and to learn a little more about the capital city (Kampala), and the governmental structure of Uganda. The other night, something really neat happened with a group of friends here from the school. We gathered at one of our host homes, and invited many of our Ugandan friends and classmates for spagetti and dancing. I dangerously helped with the cooking, while the others were swingdancing. After dinner, we grabbed the small drum and were privaleged to learn beautiful pieces of dance moves from different regions of Uganda. We have some very good friends:)
Lastly, we had a gigantic, but short-lived rain and wind storm here on saturday. I had to laugh, for a few reasons. One, I've never seen such fierce wind in my entire life, and the rain created little rivers within a matter of 10 minutes. Two, I'd given my keys to a friend so I was happily able to enjoy the wind and rain from the outside of the building. I had my small Bible and another book, so I enjoyed such literature at the back of the building where it formed a small corner for a short while. Amidst the storm, I heard a large crash, which spurred me to pray that people on campus would be protected. Little did I know, about 7 very large trees were uprooted and broken throughout the storm, and the one I'd heard happened to land about 10 feet away from me on the other side of our building breaking part of the roof. I know little else what to say, but: God's grace surely is sufficient for me.
May He continue to have the freedom to do as He pleases with each of our hearts and lives. Love,
Geoff
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