"for this is what I'm glad to do" ~May the words of my mouth

I never thought that less than one year after leaving Uganda I would be making plans to return.
I can't grasp the fact that I will be there in a few short months. I am still searching to find the best plane ticket possible, but I plan to leave around July 10th.


The past 10 months back in the United States have not been easy for me. They've come with a lot of ups and downs, struggling to re-grasp even the most mundane of Americanisms. Just this past week I noticed that I am still saying "Morning" to people. My first year in Uganda it drove me crazy that people didn't say the "good" part before the common greeting. I realize that it's the British way, and I just picked it up after a while. Now I struggle to get myself to say it the American way, the British being second nature now.


There are many other examples that I could go on with, but I'll spare you the gory details. The fact is that my heart has ached ever since leaving the place where I've lived most of my adult life. It was a hard choice to make to return there this coming summer for 6 weeks. I kept wondering if my heart could take the break of having to reacclimatize myself to American society again after parting with a place I love so dearly. But alas, I am looking into buying tickets and working out my ministry schedule while there already.


In the next 4 weeks I will be continuing with a Tutor Training for the Literacy Volunteers of America. Little did I know how much homework I was getting myself in for! I wanted to finish this training before I left for Uganda however because I hope to be able to use the techniques I learn to further teach Susan (click here to see this story) and other adults there as well.


I'll also be helping out around Heritage- getting them ready for the new school year, tutoring kids in English, etc. I am hoping and very excited to get to work alongside some of my KIU friends again.


This coming week I am honored to have been asked to speak and sing at a friends church. I will be speaking on the sacrifices that I have had to make to follow Christ. My mom my made a good point the other day while discussing the topic of sacrifice. "With God there is no such thing as sacrifice, only exchanges."  Though hard to comprehend, I'm learning to believe that it's true. All of the times I yearned to be back in America while I was living in Africa there was something else that God gave me in the midst of pain. There were so many things that God gave me. I look back in awe and treasure each memory.
On Sunday I've decided to sing a Tim Hughes song entitled "May the words of my mouth". Find the lyrics below.


May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart
Bless Your name, bless Your name, Jesus
And the deeds of the day and the truth in my ways
Speak of You, speak of You, Jesus



Chorus
For this is what I'm glad to do
It's time to live a life of love that pleases You 
And I will give my all to You 
Surrender everything I have and follow You
I'll follow You


Verse 2
Lord, will You be my vision, Lord, will You be my guide 
Be my hope, be my light and the way
And I'll look not for riches, nor praises on earth
Only You'll be the first of my heart

Once we are willing to surrender our lives to Christ, there is so much that he wants to give us in return!

I pray that you will find yourself praying this song for yourself as I do myself. I long to live a life that pleases God. I fall over and over again, but need to surrender all of my ups, downs, successes and failures to Christ so that I can fully follow Him.

I will be making a real effort to keep up my blog in the next few months with stories, pictures and prayer requests, so check back every once in a while for updates! As always, I want to pray for you! Don't hesitate to help me pray for you by telling me how. 

Continuing on with my joyful journey,

Jean

"A,B,C, easy as 1,2,3..."

As I become more and more experienced in teaching English as a Second Language students, I think I get more frustrated with the English Language. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE teaching kids how to read, but there are times when you feel like a fool.

There are many sets of rules. And there are exceptions to all of them!

I tell you, I would not be able to learn English if it were not my first language.

For example:

-A rule states that if there is an "e" placed at the end of a CVC pattern word (like mat), then the "e" tells the first vowel to say his name (making the word mate). However, try doing that to the word "have". It doesn't work! But...if you add the word "be" in front of "have" and you get "behave", where the rule does work! There are many other exceptions to this rule sadly, but it works so well many of the times.

-the word pronounced "so" has 2 different spellings, so & sow. Why not soe also...just to throw it in there? and then there's the mix up of that simple word, "so" and why the end does not sound the same as the word "do"...noo....that would be "doe"!

-as I am trying to teach the difference between the "ch" and "sh" sound...the kids come across the word "chef"...need i explain?

-why is it that when the letter y is at the end of a word it has to make different noises? eg. why & really

-...and then there's words like "weigh". now really...why not just simplify and make it way???

I am so appreciative of the simplicity of Swahili and how easy it is to read, even if I don't understand everything! There are no weird spellings, everything is exactly how it looks! So if you are reading this and understand everything that I am writing, count yourself blessed!

Math on the other hand, is quite easy for my newest student. After entering my class one week ago, knowing only how to say "hello" in English, he is fully capable of competing with the other children in addition problem games and can figure out patterns and number sentences quite simply. At least Math is a universal language!

"Behold the Man upon a cross, my sin upon his shouldersrs

I think I have a new favorite sound. Every time we have Communion at KIU, right after people are told to drink the "wine" there's a steady clinking sound. It's people placing their cups back on the desk in which they are seated! I know it might not seem like a special sound, but each time I hear it I smile, and with hundreds of these tiny cups being placed on wood, it's so symbolic. The wood brings a whole other aspect to the picture- in a sense, we were the ones nailing Christ to the wooden cross. It was our sin that held him there, just as the great hymn "How deep the father's love for us" affirms. We are the ones whose blood should have been shed on that wood. But Christ took that for us. Each one of those cups stands for someone who is accepting Christ's sacrifice and willingly saying "Lord, help me, a sinner". There's such beauty there.

"I never leave your hands, Your hands that shape the world are holding me, they hold me still..." ~JJ Heller

Friday Heritage held their annual International Day at school. During the day classes did various activities to celebrate differences in nationalities. Last year 1st grade discussed farms around the world. This year we discussed clothing. I had a few different centers set up. One group colored in fun outfits of kids dressed up in their cultural outfits (including India, New Zealand, China, Native America, Scotland, etc.). Another group worked with Miss Agnes to look at actual clothing and jewelry from around the world. I took the last group of kids around the campus and we collected things that Adam and Eve might have used to make their clothes after eating the fruit. The kids had a blast glueing huge leaves onto paper to uniquely make a dress, a top & skirt, and lastly a pair of trousers and shoes.

That night, we had our International Dinner! Parents and Teachers brought in all sorts of food for hundreds of guests. Everyone also dressed in their Cultural dress. After eating, each country had the opportunity to present something. I was asked to sing the American National Anthem. Some Canadians taught the gist of Hockey. The Indians spoke of the World Cup Championship. The Germans sang. The Koreans did some hard core Taekwondo. Overall it was a huge hit and a beautiful night!

This week I got a package slip in my mailbox at school. I was very excited to be getting a package, so Saturday morning I woke up early to go into town to pick it. I began walking down the road to find a matatu going towards town. I found one going the opposite way, but knew that it would soon be turning to go back to the taxi park, so I hopped in. As we were going along, I noticed that they were letting everyone out, but no one else was getting in. I didn't say anything, and was happily sitting in the front seat so that I could get out if I needed to. Soon it pulled off to the side of the road and the driver told me to get another taxi. Apparently it must have needed some maintenance. I eventually got another matatu and went happily into town. Right before we got to the taxi park we heard a huge explosion and the man next to me ducked down into my lap. With hearts pounding we soon realized that the matatu in front of ours had their back tire explode. Praise God everyone was safe! We slowly pilled out and made our way to our various locations. I quickly walked up the hill and made my way to the post office. I asked around and finally found the window to pick the package. I handed them my slip and drivers license, then they went into a back room and quickly found it (shockingly). Then I signed some papers and they gave me back the license and package. Turns out it was from my dear friend Jill who taught Grade 2 last year! I had a meeting with someone in 2 hours which was somewhat downtown and had to find something to do. I started walking back towards the main road and remembered that Nakasero market was somewhere near by. Nakasero market is the fruit and vegetable market downtown. I'd never been before, but heard that you could get really unique things there, and normal things for super cheap. I found my way down and walked along the outskirts as people tapped me and whispered in my ear and called out mzungu. I eventually stopped at a stand as I was making my way deeper into the market and bought some okra, cauliflower and french beans. Then I started seeing strange things. Some looked like green fingers, others looked super juicy. At one stand I saw something that looked like miniatrue apples. I asked the woman what they were and she told me that they were indeed apples! I asked if they were edible, and she said yes. I asked if they were sour, and she said no. So, for about 40cents I bought a bag of about 12 of them. I had been seeing grapes, which for 1 kilo in a supermarket would cost you no less than $13, and the deeper I got into the market the lower the prices I was finding. Finally I found one who was offering them at 8,000/= (~$3.25) for a 1/2 kilo! Imagine. Less than half the price than the supermarkets! So I bought a few boxes for different people and continued to make my way out of the market. After being grabbed and hugged a bit too closely a few times I got out and made my way back toward the taxi park. I decided to stop in the supermarket along the way to check out the prices there of the food I'd just bought a few blocks up, and grab some snacks for the week. Happily situated, I boarded a taxi going back to the part of town in which I live. Unfortunately, it wound up turning a direction I had not expected, so I got off and made my way to the boda (motorcycle taxi) stage. It seemed my regular boda driver from that stage had been waiting for me. As I got closer, he hopped on his boda and motioned for me to get on. I got home, dropped my things, then headed back out to meet a friend. A few hours later we had worship practice at school. It was a blessing to sit with fellow believers and prepare for Worship night, which will be held on Maundy Thursday. That night my roommates and I headed home, prepared dinner, and watched a movie, then headed to bed.

This morning I woke up early again, this time to go to Church. I took a boda there, hiked up the stairs and enjoyed watching my friends dance their hearts out to African Music on African Sunday wearing their tribal outfits. It was a blessed service with communion and a great message. After greeting a few friends after church, I picked up a drum, hiked back down the stairs, up the hill and crossed the street to the Palace (the house that is used as a sort of community center for the KIU church which I attend) . As I opened the gate to the Palace I braced myself in case a herd of children came at me. Luckily because I had the drum in hand, only two pounced on me. I put the drum by the garage and walked back down to tent for Sunday School. It started out well, despite the lack of chairs this week, and even as I activly told the story of Balaam's Donkey, many of the children listened intensively. Some of the kids were able to act the story out to re-tell it even. However, the little ones started to rile the others up, and before I could start the game, we had to stop Sunday School all together. The other teachers were not there with me, so it was hard to control children who don't speak the same language. The older kids tried to help, but things went down hill fast. By the time I told the children the game was canceled a few other teachers mingled in. We told them that next week if they want to play a game they need to listen to the rules and behave. The kids left sadly, but as the teachers stood around to meet, they all came knocking at the gate again wanting to come in and apologize! How good of them! The came in a squatted and one by one stood up and said "I am sorry. Please forgive us." It was so cute. I just pray next week when they come, they won't run around like wild animals picking things up and throwing them or running away. I was pleased to see that they had learned not to beat each other from the Bible story at least (it's really a great one- check it out in Numbers 22).

I walked home, partly with some of the other teachers, then on my own. I was even greeted by someone who used to attend Sunday School with us while walking on the road. It was a beautiful morning until I heard someone calling out to me. I usually try to ignore people calling out to me, as I get a lot of marriage proposals and "hey babies". I've felt convicted lately of not showing enough love to the people around me, so I decided to stop and at least say hello. Apparently a bad move. Soon the driver was out of his car following me, asking for my phone number, e-mail and physical address. I tried to explain to him that I am not allowed to give out that information to people I do not know (it's true, I'm not), but he just didn't get it and kept following me. I lovingly told him that I am happy to greet him when I see him on the street and pray for him, but that I can not help him any more than that right now. He still didn't get it. At this point I just tried to ignore him and I ducked off into someone's driveway. I waited there probably 5 minutes until I finally heard the car start and it drive away. I waited another minute and peeked out to see that he was indeed gone. I arrived home safe and sound, and thankful that I have a guard should that man have continued to follow me home.

I do so love the people here, but being a single white girl gets a lot of unwanted attention. Praise God for his perfect timing and wonderful protection. Some of the events of my weekend might seem a bit scary, and in a way they can be, but I know that no matter what is going on around me, I am in God's hands. And right now, I'm right where he needs me, and thankful for His love that he gives us, to give to others. For the next few hours I shall take some much needed alone time, then have a prayer meeting and host someone for dinner.

So, if you've ever wondered what a weekend looks like for me, there's a pretty good snapshot.

Below you will see my roommates and next door neighbor with things not normally found in Uganda:

Christina with Oreos!

The tiny apples I got at Nakasero Market!

Karli enjoying the apple! It really did taste like an apple, but was super sour.

Jessie with Ice Cream!

Emilee with Ritz crackers.

Me with the grapes I got at Nakasero Market! They are SOOO good :)

"I walk the dirt roads of Uganda, I see the scars that war has left behind...every child in Africa is Yours"

Tomorrow are Uganda National Elections. To you, this may not seem like a huge deal. However, if you know African history, there is SO much behind this type of event. People are asking so many things. Will we turn out like Egypt? Will people riot like in Kenya?

The facts: The current President Museveni has been in power for 25 years and is campaigning for another 5 years. People who were alive during "the wars" are afraid of change- they've seen so much bloodshed and are afraid that someone new might bring more. Museveni has kept the peace in Uganda. There is still corruption. People go up to the booth and fill out a paper, then walk away with the paper and put it in a box. Sometimes people will walk up to voters as they vote to persuade them otherwise. Many people are too afraid to leave their homes to vote. Most of my friends are stocking up on food to last them a few weeks. Schools are required to close for the election period, but Heritage is closing from February 16-23 (elections are the 18th). WGM Uganda is on lock-down until further notice.

Titus 3 tells us to "remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men."

Please pray for peace. Pray for rationale for everyone involved in the elections, as well as for the people of Uganda and the surrounding nations. Pray that as God is ALMIGHTY, He will choose the person who is most gifted and is a perfect fit for what this nation needs.

As I walk to school in the mornings, I can't help but look around in amazement as life unfolds before my very eyes. God's glory is revealed to me in new big and small ways each and everyday. Women slowly emerging, wrapped in their kitenges getting ready for the day. Old men already hard at work hammering rocks. Children rubbing their eyes as they dress in their uniforms and sleepily walk the long road to school, brooms in hand so they can sweep the classroom. The sun slow emerging over the mountainous rocks in the quarry. Chickens running wildly across the road (yes, i still laugh at this)! I wonder how I could ever leave this place. Yet, as we have it, my time is coming to a close in Uganda...for now. In June I am planning to return to the NJ/PA area in search of a job, masters program, and most of all, time with friends and family. Your support has meant an exorbitant about to me over the past few years. I have felt your prayers, and I continue to ask for them through these elections, the last term of school here, and as I look to re-adjust to a life in America. It's a great comfort to know that my steps are ordered by the Lord, and I hope that you find comfort and truth behind that as well!

As always, I would love to hear any prayer requests and updates from you! Philipians 4:6 famously says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." What are your requests????

I don't care to much for money, money can't buy me love -Beatles

A few weeks ago I finally attended a Wedding Meeting for friends at KIU. I'd been asked countless times to go to one of these weekly meetings for several different people I've known getting married here. In Kenyan culture at least, people in the community give money to couples to pay help them pay for their weddings. Because people are here in University, they don't really have neighbors from their village giving as much. So, there's a wedding committee at our church! It's actually a really neat idea. People help each other out so much here. They help them make arrangements, and they organize transportation for people to travel to the wedding and where people will stay, etc. I'd honestly been avoiding the meetings, not knowing what to expect. I finally went one week and was SO pleasantly surprised. I had a blast! Incredibly confused at first, but thankfully one of my friends was sitting next to me happily explaining what was going on. It felt more like a sort of auction than a meeting...but there wasn't anything being auctioned. First off, the seats were full, but someone said "I will sell my seat for 500UGX (~$0.25)" as I was walking up. They told me to sit down and put 500UGX in the bag that was going around. People kept calling out what seemed like nonsense to me. Things like "minus 1kUGX (~$0.50) Becky's account" and "give me 200UGX (~$0.10) to feel if there's anything inside of this box". Basically it's just a time to goof around in a fun way to raise money for someone's wedding. I finally figured most of it all out, and decided to give it a try. I called over the moderator and told him that I was putting in 1kUGX for everyone to stand up. Luckily Harrison did not announce that I was the one who did it (though my friend Ivy was the one who told me that was one thing that people do say) because people were not too happy that they all had to stand up. In order to sit down, they all had to pay 200UGX. Ivy looked at me and said something like "who did that???" I just stared at her and finally she figured it out. HA. By the end of the night I was just sitting there cracking up at the things that people were saying and doing. On the way out they just ask that you would give whatever you want into the bag. That way it's much more secretive as to who gave what, which I very much appreciate as a person who strives to not let my left hand know what my right hand is doing. If on the off chance you ever have the chance to attend one of these meetings, I would highly suggest doing so. It's great entertainment and you are not put out too much.

"It feels like chaos, somehow there's peace" -Sanctus Real

This past weekend a group of teachers from Heritage loaded a van to the brim to venture into the bush. Literally, I walked through the bush- they even called it that! The reason? We were asked by a local pastor to go to his village. While there, we encouraged a local women's group (mostly widows or HIV+), preached in church, visited homes, fetched water and carried it back on our heads, played with the children, and trained some nursery school teachers. At the school there are 78 students and 2 teachers! And these are not teenagers. We're talking about 2 year olds who still have not been potty trained nor do they have the ability to talk. Grant it, there are many who can talk and are well on their way to knowing how to add. We helped them teach on Monday and figured out how we could best help them. Afterwards the HIS teachers met and discussed ideas, then two of us went and sat down with Florence and Tollo. It was tough trying to explain to them things that they had never heard of before, such as lesson plans and timetables. We were right down to the basics for these teachers who never even finished High School. By the end of our 2 1/2 hour meeting we had successfully gone through most of the subjects that needed to be covered. The next day was a test: would they be able to make it? Somehow...that's a common phrase here that's hard to translate the exact meaning. Honestly, I can't imagine a time without using that word now. One of the teachers did fantastically while the other one continued to struggle greatly. It's hard to really break ground in two days. There isn't much more that we could have expected. Only that we did what we could and brought them school supplies. Some of the other teachers painted wood with chalkboard paint, some played football with the new one we bought, others watched in awe as the kids jumped through the ropes we brought with us. There's a lot more that still needs to be done, but it was a good start.

One night while we slept on the hard cement floor, the soft rain pitter-pattered on the tin roof above our heads. Though the floor below was causing some discomfort, the sound of the rain brought peace to my heart. It was so quiet! Quite the opposite of what I'm hearing right now with a church service bellowing outside of my window. I'm used to the hustle of the city, my heart aches for peace. It may not seem like the most restful trip, and it was very overwhelming at times, but peace was restored.

At the same time that I was in the village enjoying the peace and quiet, my dear friends at KIU were being caned. The school has decided to hike up the fees for people who pay late. Every two weeks late, there's an additional $30. Now that might not seem like much to you, but to someone who is barely able to pay their school fees, $90 for being 6 weeks late is A LOT! So, the students took action and rioted. The highest level of military showed up to break up the rioters and push back the people who had stopped traffic on the main road by hurling rocks at cars. As the rioters retreated, some went and hid inside of the hostels (like dorms) where my friends live. The military followed them in with tear gas bombs and big sticks. Anyone who was found in the hostel was caned and told to get out. Luckily my friends were able to escape quickly and only got caned a few times. They ran out into the street and fled to their friends homes to stay. Since then, no one has spent the night in the hostel. They are all still scared that something will happen. I only learned of this today when I showed up and waited outside of my friends room in that hostel for bible study, only to learn that no one was there. Eventually another friend came by and took me to her room. She had come to get a change of clothes. She explained to me that this was her first time in this type of situation and as we walked the stairs going out of the hostel she explained how she still envisioned the men in black suits of armor were running and hitting them. There is 'peace' now, but people are still seriously fearing remaining in the hostel for the night. There is no resolution to the problem and people are still keeping it a secret whether or not people died. Rumors come up so quickly in these instances. Alas, Bible Study was canceled today, and tomorrow we are venturing off to Camp for a few days, so there will be a time for peace in their hearts. Please pray for these students. Pray that their school fees would come through so that they wouldn't need to fret about overdue fees. Pray for peace...I guess I could say that about so much of the world. I know that in Ecclesiastes we are told that there's a time for everything under heaven..."a time for war and a time for peace." In the states people don't experience war in their homeland, and they are so blessed for that. It's unavoidable here. My friends had nothing to do with those riots, but they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our world is full of differences, and so many of them are good, but I fear the extremes.

I feel like that so much here, like I am caught between two extremes. There's the obvious differences: color, food, class, etc. But there's so much more at a deeper level. It makes me wonder what God is doing inside of my heart. The song that goes with this title of this entry says: "Time to make right what has been wronged, it's time to find my way to where I belong. There's a wave that's crashing over me and all I can do is surrender. Whatever you're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos, somehow there's peace. It's hard to surrender what I can't see, but I'm giving into something Heavenly. Time for a milestone, time to begin again, reevaluate who I really am. Am I doing everything to follow your will or just climbing aimlessly over these hills? So show me what it is you want from me. I give everything...you're up to something bigger than me...something heavenly."

God is our peace. Even when we feel like we are surrounded by chaos, we can find peace. All we have to do is surrender to him. It's a great reminder, even on a daily basis when we come to small battles. We MUST just give it over to God, and he will bring peace. I pray that He brings peace not only to my friends at KIU or the teachers who struggle with 70+ students, but to you as well. He knows what best, and he will bring us peace. Praise HIM!