When I in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hands hath made- How Great Thou Art

This year Christmas looked a bit different for me. Not only did I attend 4 different churches in 2 weeks time, but I also did so with my parents! We certain experienced different sides of life in each of those. We went to a Pentecostal Christmas Cantata on Christmas eve which was a HUGE show and was very well done. We went to the Anglican All Saint’s Cathedral on Christmas morning and heard an excellent sermon by the Kampala Bishop. Then on the next Sunday we went to the Orthodox Cathedral on the other side of town- my parents are Orthodox and wanted to experience a service here and meet some people- little did they no that we were to sit through a 4 hour service with no more than 2 bible passages said in English. The last was at our Kisugu Branch of Africa Gospel Churches (AGC), which my mission starts. I hadn’t been there in a long time, but it was good for my parents to see more of what my normal services are like. I usually attend KIU’s AGC and there are usually over 1,000 there, but with a mostly Kenyan population, most of them have headed back home for the holidays.

The weather was also quite different. Mid 70’s and cloudy with a bit of rain. On the East coast of the US, where I suspect most of you reading this are, it was cold and snowy, as many people dream of. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed it!

My parent’s presence was such a blessing as they got to experience some unique aspects of my life here. They met people I work with within my mission, my co-workers at school, my current 1^st grade students (plus some students from last year that I treasure like Wasswa, Ha-rim and Ruben), Susan (who I am teaching to read-see entry below), and some of the AGC pastors and their wives (including Rebecca who makes the paper bead necklaces). Although they didn’t get the opportunity to meet any of my KIU friends, they did pass by the campus so at least they know what I am talking about when I speak of KIU now. In addition to meeting so many people, they also got the privilege to see several areas of this amazingly beautiful country. I brought them to the Entebbe Botanical gardens where we saw so many cool things! There were cinnamon trees, enormously tall palms, baobabs, Gerber daisies, vervit monkeys & colobus monkeys, storks, and so much more! Then my parents treated me to a safari at Murchison Falls! It is so beautiful up there with so many different terrains. We saw lots of animals such as water buffalo, Uganda Cob, Water buck, giraffe, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, wart hogs, and LIONS (up close and personal)! There were also tons of beautiful birds and got a special treat of spotting a genet cat walk up to our table after dinner one evening!

While I was wandering the rocks of the falls where the great river Nile converges and pours down hundreds of feet at an alarming rate and power though a gap around 20 meters wide the wonderful lyrics of How Great Thou Art rolled around in my head. The force of the water was loud enough for me to sing through a few stanzas as well without anyone noticing This creation that HE CREATED truly is an amazingly beautiful sight, enough to make a soul sing J 

Before they left we also ventured to Jinja to see the Source of the Nile, Bujigali falls and some of that cute city. I really enjoy it there. My parents helped out in organizing the library at school and my mom even came in and told the story of Epiphany of January 6^th while my dad sang “We Three Kings”. It was a really neat time to share and a good way of teaching the children more about seasons in the church calendar. Some people didn’t even think there really were 12 days of Christmas, thinking it was just a song. It’s neat to see people learn!

While my parents time here wasn't always as beautiful as a flower, it was an eye opening experience to them I think. We got into matatus (15 passenger vans that they stuff with at least 16 people) and made our way down to Owino market (check out my article on jeans to discover a taste of what it's like), even drove through Christmas eve traffic. People say that it's unlike anything they've ever seen elsewhere. Some call it overwhelming chaos. Some call it adventure. I think of it as another glimpse of God's world that I am privileged to live in for the time being.

check out my pictures to the song "How Great Thou Art" on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040516&id=30200100&l=654eb6f3b6

Joyful, Joyful we adore thee

Joyous Christmas! I know, this is not the usual “Merry Christmas”, but as I sat in church this morning, we were reminded to think of it as more than that. It’s not just a “merry” thing. This commercial world that we seem to live in at times may think of it as such, but we know more.

“Merry” is defined in the Oxford American Dictionary as “cheerful and lively”. While the worlds’ most amazing life was brought into this world on this day, Christmas is more than lively. It’s more than cheerful. There was a lot of cheer that came forth from this truly glorious occasion over 2000 years ago. However, it’s SO much more than that. It’s magnificent, brilliant, heavenly. But at the same time, it was humble, meek, mild. This Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace was born so that He could be with us. He humbled himself to not only be born in a place where animals eat mush, but then give completely of Himself for us. It’s too much to even fathom.

Just a tid-bit from my Christmas e-mail that I sent to my friends and family. If you're not on that list, but would like to be, don't hesitate to ask! I remain, ever hungry for Him, and striving to be joyful always.

"Calm down, release your cares, the stale taste of recycled air" -Postal Service (yes, that's a band)

As mentioned before, my 1st grade class has been working with the 10-12th graders on a big recycling project through out the month of November.

Lisa Fish, my friend and the High School Social Studies teacher partnering with me, has posted an entry on her blog about our last day working together on the project. We took a trip to the recycling plant! Complete with pictures of me translating, check out:

http://thefishlineonline.blogspot.com/2009/12/recycling-project-is-completed.html

Here's some pictures of the kids working together to make posters encouraging others to recycle on campus:

 

Our plastic competition winners, Logan and Jonah, work together to make their poster.

Star and Rora sit and watch others finish their posters.

Bhavik and Ethan proudly hang up their poster on the administration building.

Here's some of my pictures from when we made paper together:

 Some of the other students watching the demonstration in the back.

 Tiya and Jaden working to make paper from our pulp of used paper that we cut up into tiny 

pieces.

I am so glad...I wanna thank you Lord-Third Day

This last Thursday in November is a bit different for me than other Americans in the world. Any US citizen living outside of America at the moment would agree with me that our day is not viewed at the same. However, just because the location that I am in is not celebrating Thanksgiving does not mean I can't! In fact, even though I was teaching in school, I did teach the kids what it was. This year, I have looked up all of the holidays from the different countries that we are all from and we are going to learn about and celebrate them all! I'm really looking forward to it all.So, from an American living in Uganda...here's some of the things that I am thankful for:

Family: you really realize how much they are each worth living away from them all

Friends: who are so amazing in the blessings that they provide on a daily life

Teachers: Just now, as I was typing this, a fellow teacher from school called me to tell me that there was a rainbow in the sky! 

Little friends: when we got outside to check out the rainbow we showed our little ascari's son (Obeti) the rainbow and said "Range" (rahn-gay) which means colors in swahili. We went up on the balcony and took a snap with him.  Can you see the rainbow in the background? I'm also thankful for the little kiddos that I teach and am impacting- what a privilage!

Rainbows: it's just one of my pet cleeves. THEY are a-maz-ing. :D I started jumping up and down sceaming- in fact my friend who is visiting me thought someone had given me a gift I was so happy. Someone had- GOD!

God: He is my everything. My comfort, my provider, my shelter...yeah...He's great!

Flowers: i've kept my dying roses from my kids, which a neighbor finds silly, but they still bring me joy so why get rid of them? I'm thankful for the children who bring me flowers EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Music: I don't know how I could live with out it. I sing constantly and am so thankful for the ability to express myself through it. 

Food: I've been trying new things and finding new things that I can eat...maybe I'm on my way to eating normal? Now that would be something to be THANKFUL for!

Chai Tea: Such a filling and comforting snack at the end of a day of teaching.

Skype: I am so thankful for the ability to actually communicate with people. 

This list could go on and on... I pray that you have a blessed Thanksgiving and remember to be thankful to our Lord for the little blessings in our lives. 

I’ve learned to trust in you…in this place dreams are made- Hillsong

Since January I've been teaching this wonderful woman of 34 how to read. She was in school until...preschool. She was forced to drop out of school when her mother fell ill. In order to provide for the family she had to find work. Now she is providing for not only herself but her husband and three children. So, she never learned how to read. This woman was hired by my mission in the past few years and my boss soon discovered her inability to read. What we didn't know is that her reading level really was...completely illiterate. She didn't even know the letters of the alphabet! The funny thing about living in Kampala is that you really do need to know a lot of languages- your tribal language(s), Luganda, and English. She already knew English well, so that was no problem. 

As a Christmas present last year, my boss suggested that I invite Susan to learn how to read. She jumped at the opportunity and since then so much has happened. We meet once a week after she is done working at my apartment. She is really shy about her reading, so if anyone is ever around we sneak into my room and study together. You should have seen her light up at being able to read labels on food containers! 

Last week I gave her a test. I wanted her to feel really motivated. At times it was hard to get her to study due to her frustration at feeling she would never learn. So, I put together a list of the words we've worked on in the past 11 months and quizzed her. In my mind, I had decided that if she got 75% of the words correct I would reward her with a bag of sugar (it may seem silly to Americans, but Africans LOVE sugar in their tea). And guess what? She totally exceeded my expectations! She got 80% right! I was SO excited for her! To think that in less than a year she's gone from not knowing her letters to taking interest in the signs that she sees all around her! She's really trying to put an effort into reading! Granted, we've still got a long way to go and are working on vowel sounds right now, but it is so exciting to see the joy in her eyes when she finishes a little book. 

She's learning to read while I'm learning more about education here and adult education. The ability to read is so freeing and something that every eye reading this can easily take for granted. Reading can put dreams in our hearts and minds and bring us to new worlds! Just one more thing to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day in the states! 

In this secret place I'll hide away that I might hear a simple word- Jennifer Knapp

It's funny how telling a Bible story that you've heard since before you were 4 years old (the youngest age of my students) can have new effects on you 20 years. For instance, the story of Moses. That's the story I told my story 2 weeks ago in class. Last year, it's the story that my kids acted out in chapel. But this year, seeing as I have incredibly squirmy boys, I decided to take those kids out to the stream on campus to have a look at the papyrus! 

I dramatically pretended I was putting a baby in the reeds, then jumped over pretending to be Pharoh's daughter, then jumped back pretending to be Miriam. The kids seemed to enjoy it and were really intrigued in the papyrus. It's something they pass on a daily basis, but never really thought about what it was. 

We paused for a photo op before returning to our room:

It was good that we had this small exhibition, because more recently, along with our new recycling project (a blog will come soon about this) we had a man come in and teach us about paper. When he whipped out this huge dandelion like green twig, my kids knew what it was (compared to the high schoolers who were stumped)! 

Will you pray with me that as I continue to teach these time-old stories, that they would sink into their minds and teach them something useful to their own lives? I am often trying to think of more and more creative ways to present these topics as they hit me in new ways as well. It's so neat to think that just 2 hours from here in the source of the great river that Moses hid in. 

The lyrics to the title of this post are from a song that has been going through my head a lot in the past few months, and it's just such a reminder to take time to hide away...but not from someone like baby Moses. Hide IN the Lord! Just to hear that simple word that he is trying to whisper gently in your ear.

So we build, we build, we clear away what was and make room for what will be- Nichole Nordeman

There's a new noise that is a major part of my daily life at school. At times, when this noise stops, it's deafening. The noise? Construction! I've been living with the sound of construction from the slow progress of building the un-funded chapel for the past year and a half, but that was rather quiet and we had the little kid playground in between us. This, however, is much needed bathrooms for the Elementary students and is moving rather quickly. It's usually something that we can handle, as God has gifted me with a voice that can become quite loud, but becomes a struggle during tests.

A view from my window:

One of my students is so fascinated by this whole process that he's often late to class. Here he is peeking inside of the cement mixer: 

Beginning Infrastructure: 

More progress:

The most recent- you can see my classroom right there- the one room school house :)

It's fascinating to me how building happens here with the long sticks holding EVERYTHING up!

The lyrics of the title of this entry come from a beautiful song. It doesn't really have all that much to do with the building of the bathrooms, but it does talk about a hammer and climbing up a ladder. Not that I fully understand all of the lyrics, but the ones that I do grasp, I love:

"the lie that we tell says it's better somewhere else. as if love flies south when it freezes. what I'm trying to say in some clumsy way is that it's You and only You for always..."