blistering sun and stubborn children...all in all-goodness

so its definately been awhile since i have written because the internet here in gulu is straight up shoddy. (i used to think that was kind of a curse word but its not because i just read it in jim elliots writing so i know it must be ok:) ) it has been a great two weeks!! angel is the wonderful girl who is my companion here and God has been SO tremendously faithful in providing her! she and i make a remarkable team and get along perfectly!! this community was just in time as i was missing some good girl time in kenya. she is 27 and from texas and just really balances me completely. we are already planning our next trip together.
as far as uganda itself is concerned...it is hot...like WAY hot. like i am perpetually sweating hot and my body cant adjust because every day its just getting hotter as they enter the hot, dry season. the poverty here is overwhelming. angel and i have had the opportunity to work in the camps some (internally displaced people's camps) and its heartbreaking. it almost feels silly to go in there with a bible drama and coloring and just play with teh kids when such huge socioeconimic changes are imperitive!!! reconstruction is a beast. for those of you who dont know Gulu, Uganda where i am has just emerged from a horrific 20 year civil war which left it traumatized, destitute, demoralized and impoverished. the monstrous task of reconstruction, resettlement and rehabilitation has begun but its a slow slow process.
during the day angel and i are teaching 5th and 6th grade english at a local primary school! i love it!! its seriously making think about moving back over here as a full time teacher. i should mention that 5th and 6th grade english means tht we have students ranging from 10 to 20 with boys far bigger than myself. its so frustrating sometimes as we have 98 students in each class (and dont worry thats a moderate sized class-many many schools have 200 to 1 student teacher ratio). i spend most of the class yelling, standing on desks, singing songs and thouroughly terrifing the students. its very fun-i am sure i do worlds for foreign relations with the us. we are trying to so more creative writing, critical thinking exercises as all the students have ever done are robotic grammar exercises. i mean dont get me wrong we are still teaching grammar we are just rapping it instead. hahahaha
in the evenings we work with the kids at the safe house-18 kids who have been rescued from various INTENSE situations to come live at this house where we stay. so basically we are with them ALL THE TIME. sometimes this gets exhausting. but we are working very hard to catch them up in school, we have done art therapy, lots of futball, games and songs galore. its so fun. we also do a devotion with the kids each night from this great book of angels that takes bible lessons from the animal kingdom.
we also have been working on drama's with the kids at the safe house which we perform in the camps.
today i kind of hit a wall of tiredness and general i-want-to-come-homeness so i really need prayer for strength and over whelming love for these kids for these last two weeks. i need sensitivity to the holy spirit to know how best and where best to serve here.
i will be praying for all of you this week as you will be travelling and spending time with family. i will pray that you would drink deeply of His love through your families and that it would be a time of rich refreshment rather than stress. take a lesson from the ugandans-there is no such thing as time or schedule so dont stress-its going to work out....i feel like americans need a good boost of that at the holidays!! i love you all deeply and sincerely!
shalom and a thousand blessings!

Last night in Kenya…
So this is my last post from Kenya. Tomorrow I leave for Uganda to teach high school and do an afterschool leadership program in Gulu. It’s a bit weird I must admit because I feel like after two months of building relationships and starting projects I now have to start all over. I kind of feel like if I am leaving I should be going home. These last few days/week have been very full. Full of practicing drama, dance, singing, games, crafts and bible studies with the kiddos (the kids had become very jealous of the older girls who I have been doing bible studies with so I found myself being begged to do more hahaha talk about fine by me ) I went to Narok last weekend with a group of 7 young adults from the Limuru area (all Kenyan). We met with 8 Masaai men and told the story of the bible in 16 stories with them. It really was a very cool experience- the bible being told in English, Swahili, Maasai and Kikuyo. They slaughtered two goats (don’t worry, like the pigs testicles I passed. luckily I am a vegetarian all the time so didn’t have to worry about fabricating an elaborate excuse) I got to see much more of the Kenyan landscape on the way including a good deal of wildlife including zebra. We went to a maasai church on Sunday and it was incredible. It was just such a testimony to how unbelievably multicultural our God is.
This week was incredibly busy preparing for the big inter-children’s home competition that happened today. It was an absolute blast. The kids performed very well and just had a lot of fun getting to spend time with kids from the other centers. The moms definitely had a ball and it was the social event of the month! Everyone worked hard and most importantly it was a step in uniting the children’s homes in the area rather than perpetuating this fragmentation and competitiveness between administrations.
I am very tired at the moment but its safe to say that I absolutely love the kids that I have gotten to work with these last few months-and side note-that’s not a given I don’t just LOOVE kids just because they are cute orphans. I will love on kids regardless but I have truly come to fall in love with these kids, with their hearts, stories and personalities.
The preschool sponsorship program is just about complete and that’s just straight up exciting so everyone should go to happyafrica.org and select a child to sponsor. Brian tropiano is a champ and designed the template…its adorable.
Chapter two of this adventure begins…

goodness wins

for starters i just want to assure you that just incase you had any doubts at all: Goodness triumphs over evil. i mean i know we know this to be true because jesus is going to come back and freaking clean house and right this world once and for all but even in the meantime goodness wins!! why? because anything that is bad is only a perversion of something that is good. see mere christianity for more on the subject...i really liked his rational on that one. God is good and this is HIS world and thats just comforting. anyway this is going to be quick because i smell really bad and sitting still like this makes me very aware of that fact (and probably the poor people around me too) plus this key board is a peice of crap so i apologize in advance for any typos:) this last week was good-busy and rainy but good. the youth symposium went really well-there were a lot of last minute changes and a lot of flexibility but all in all i think it was a very good thing. about 60 people came and stayed for the entire thing which is way cool and the money was raised and the youth asked difficult questions and there was good discussion and everything. there was plenty of room for improvement but all in all it was a success. the district office of youth affairs asked us to do more in different areas they have projects in and all these people were saying we should have one at least every month. they kept asking me when the next one was but i told them the torch had been passed and now they have the opportunity to finish what i started! i sincerely hope they will.
i am busy with plans for the competition that is involving five children's homes in teh area as well as continuing to do murals in the new baby centre and work on the preschool sponsorship program (b-trop is a champ for helping with the design) so you should all check out happyafrica.org and sponsor a preschooler for christmas they are each precious and wonderful and in serious serious need...i mean i know all the excuses you might have for not sponsoring a child over seas but let me just assure you that their need is WAY more than yours will ever be. their stories are heart wrenching-literally. mean the things these kids have seen and been through are horrendous and a part of this ridiculous cycle that has no easy answer or solution. i have really been wrestling wtih that lately. i mean this entire country (not to mention the continent) have MAJOR structural changes that need to take place-economic, emotional, psychological, GOVERNMENTAL changes that need to happen. the culture of pverty is stifling and suffocating ingenuity and creativity with the aid of the education system which is a part of a corrupt government which creates/sustains a culture of deceit and corruption which is aided by/created by poverty which results from a complete lack of jobs and misuse of resources which has been perpetuated by decades of microsolutions that do nothing for the future while all along people are having 9 kids that they cant provide for and things just get messier.
thank goodess that goodness wins and that JESUS IS COMING BACK. meanwhile i will continue to love the one in front of me knowing that this is not my kingdom or my home but that my treasure is in heaven. lets not forget that there is enough for everyones need but not for everyones greed.
hopefully that will act as an inspiration to spur you on to good works for the kingdom of heaven rather than depress you into passivity because the latter would be tragic and the former will bring abudence and a transcendent peace to guard your heart!
shalom

pigs testicles and other kenyan wonders

So its time for a quick update…I know you all have been on the edge of your seats waiting…hahah just kidding but I thought the theme of this one should be the wonders of Kenya…just to give you an idea of some of the…eccentricities I come into contact with everyday…. pigs testicular sandwiches being one of them. We took the kids to the Nairobi national museum yesterday because it was a public holiday! It was an incredible day! Truly sooo much fun! After the museum we went to the park and had our picnic of pigs testicle sandwich and soda hahaha the kids looove them and then we just ran around the park playing in fountains running away from strange men with ridiculous money making techniques such as hideous face painting, pushing kids in little miniature cars or making balloon hats (minus any sort of skill or shapliness) like I said it was public holiday so the place was SWAMPED! On Friday I went to this HUGE market to try and track down instruments and costumes for the kids. This is definitely NOT the market that muzungus go to. Haha I now know where alllll our old clothes go….KENYA! there were piles and piles of used clothes from the western world and a whole lot of free spirits. Though I did get a darn cute sweater for 50 shillings (about 75 cents). But the wonder of all the wonders were these backpacks. One booth had all these backpacks exactly the same color, shape, everything except that it had a different brand stamped on it. Basically you could choose whether you are more of a reebok or puma person. Haha I laughed very hard. Also There are no rules of the road here…a trend largely perpetuated by mitatus-the taxi bus. These monstrosities are hardly road worthy and drive like MANIACS. The best part about them (did I mention they are my primary mode of transportation) is the decoration and naming of each unique mitatu. From “redeemed” to “Do me” to “wallz to wallz” these beautiful pieces of craftsmanship are the definition of art and creativity. Hahah its also usually quite clear that the designer did not speak English and so just typed some Swahili words into a translator and painted whatever came out. Or the other common mistake is the misunderstanding of rap lyrics…who can blame them though because I have a hard time myself understanding what they say. On any given day I might get into a mitatu with 37 people (it seats 14), a chicken, a goat, a mattress and 25 kilos of flour already aboard. It’s always an adventure.
Another wonder of Kenya (specifically where I am) are the tea plantations! I have been trying to run some mornings and recently found this back road that leads to the most astonishing, breath taking out of this world tea plantation I have ever seen. I literally rounded the corner and was at the top of a hill and was just baffled by the land that was spread out below me…such green, such blue in the sky such beauty. I really wont even attempt to describe it but let me assure you that there is a God and he IS an artist. Period.
In other news this has been a very busy week with the youth symposium coming up sooo very soon-this Saturday in fact. I am honestly a bit anxious about it. I know that a looot of people are coming ( my phone has been ringing like crazy) but I am just anxious about money, smoothness and whether people will actually think and participate. I would really really appreciate prayer on that account. Also I’ve been planning for the trip that we took yesterday and practicing for the talent competition!! Lots and lots of practicing. Maureen and Lydia spent the night on Sunday to make posters for the youth symposium. That was way fun. I finished my noah’s ark mural at the baby center and it turned out really good which is always a good thing (and certainly not a guarantee haha). Made a newsletter for the center, did bible study –I feel like slowly slowly I am becoming more of a friend and our conversations are getting better though I definitely would appreciate prayer in knowing best how to relate and love them and connect with them and overcome the language barrier, knitted more, spent friday night at the center, watched amelie (such a good movie-I love stories about quirky girls), and Basically that’s whats up. Its been good its been real. Hahah Well soooo much love from my heart to yours!

Christ's life

i was thinking about this concept of "it is no longer i who lives but Christ in me." What a tremendous difference....me living and then Christ living. i think i have a long way to go before i truly understand and live in that truth but there are certainly striking evidences of that in my life now. for example-this week end i just did not spend the time with the Lord that i personally need for basic functionality and it was so evident. i was easily frustrated, tired, stressed and pessimistic about the outcome of several events/programs i am working on. I had to step back last night and deconstruct my behavior until i realized that whoa this was all in direct corralation to the fact that i was not full...i had not drunk from the well of everlasting life-for two days!! thats all it took for me to fall into the trap of self, schedules, and success. what a struggle i am. i totally evaluate my worth according to how much, and how well i DO. its quite pathetic really...if i feel i have not accomplished the things i wanted to in a day i literally start to beleive the lie that i am nothing...not in the freeing Christ-loves-me-and-will-use-me-in-my-brokenness kind of way but in the self pity, self (loathing is too strong) disliking kind of way. i definately need to be free of that if i am to be fully Christs servant and soldier. This quote has been tremendously meaningful to me lately: "We mostly spend our lives conjugating three verbs: to Want, to Have, and to DO. Craving, clutching, and fussing, on the material, political, social. emotional,intellectual-even spiritual-plan, we are kept in perpetual unrest: forgetting that none of these verbs have any ultimate significance, except so far as they are transcended by and included in the fundamental verb, to Be: and that Being, not wanting, having and doing, is the essence of a spiritual life." Evelyn Underhill especially cocnsidering that God's real name is I AM it makes sense that we are closest to him-perhaps even ONLY close to him when we are BEING-allowing actions to flow from the BEING rather than the DOING to define the BEING.

in other news...this week flew by-like whoa. its hard to believe that i have been here nearly a month. we started working on our play this week and that has been a LOT of fun...the kids now all officially think i am crazy because i yell (not AT them- just in general), and do their lines with more flare than...well than i dont know what. haha they were sooooo pumped at first but the enthusiasm has waned a bit as they have begun to realize how  much work this is going to be. the play is called "The Rabbit and the Well."  its super cute-an african folk tale. we also started choreographing a dance for the talent competition that is going to be happening on November 8th. i dont know if i mentioned this before but i am trying to put together a talent competition between all the children's homes in the area. there are five homes currently planning on participating in the four categories of: Song/Dance, Poetry, Debate and Drama. its hopefully going to be a great thing for unifying the children's homes, developing a sense of ownership over the homes for the kids and building and affirming the kids in their unique giftednesses. 

The other major project is the Youth Symposium with Career Fair, Identity Finder activities, hot topic discussion and art exibition. i would REALLY appreciate prayer on that. its coming up sooner than i can beleive on Oct. 25. there is SOOOO much to do between now and then it blows my mind and makes me stressed out.

it has been an incredible week in terms of community. i feel i have really started to develop close friendships with the people who live at the house-especially Brioni. She's a passionate australian and just such a remarkable woman of God. also i feel i have started to finally break through in starting to form real friendships with the older girls-not just you know surfaceyness. well i am growing weary of typing and i can only assume that you have to be more than weary of reading so i shall spare us both and stop here. 

to God be the glory for ever and ever...

shalom and chocolate kisses  

this week was similar to last though maybe a bit less packed. the highlights were going to the elderly home with the kiddos and taking all the knitting we had been working on. i spent the night at the center on friday and that was a blast!!  the kids didnt have school on wednesday so we had the whole day to have fun (and wear me out). we made sock puppets and did puppet shows. 

sunday we had a debate. that was a struggle because the kids are simply NOT TAUGHT to think at ALL!! its very frustrating because those are the skills that cause change in a people-the ability to think critically, outside the box!! so we are going to be doing debates every sunday. the kids just stared at us as we tried to ask them the WHY question to whether boys and girls should recieve equal education and whether the kenyan education system is efficient, excellent and adequately prepares them for their future careers. even the teacher (Kenyan) who was helping with the activity couldnt comprehend the concept. he just wanted them to memorize the reasons we wrote on the board and i was just dumbfounded. i started yelling and jumping up and down-no writing no writing just THINK!!! we dusted off our thinking caps (literally) and put them on and TRIED TRIED TRIED to think. it was a start. a bit of a struggle though

i am feeling a bit loopy this morning as my sinuses are funky and its rainy, cold and misty. 

oh one really fun thing that we did was on saturday night my house mates and I went to the movies and out to this cRAZY indian food court. it was a blast though my bowls did not appreciate it. hahah too much information?? probably but thats the glory of blogs i dont have to mind. 

another highlight was going to Kibera to teach a bible lesson on prayer at this school called New Adventure Primary School. (i wonder if the kids there are more excited about learning) 

no profound thoughts this morning maybe tomorrow.

shalom 

two weeks in

Wow so its been awhile since I have written. More so in experience than in actual time passing. I have been here for nearly two weeks now. I am just going to put into list form what I have been up to in the last week: hanging out at Limuru Children’s Centre a LOT. I painted a gate (all pretty and cutesy) for a new baby center opening as a part of LCC. I went to a Care for Aids center and helped with the body empowerment section (as I assured them I did not have any medical background-they wanted me to act as the health consultant-that’s dangerous haha) therefore I handed out rations on food with my friend Maureen. I taught the girls at the center how to knit and we have been knitting up a storm to take to an elderly home that we are going to on Saturday. I really want to help the kids understand that they are capable of making a difference. And that they have each been uniquely and wonderfully designed by the God of the universe with gifts, talents and capabilities that can be used to help, serve and build his kingdom. Thus anytime I do an activity with them it will have that goal in mind-not just a fun activity to fill the time. We also planned an activity day for Sunday (yesterday) during which we invited the kids at a nearby children’s home to come over to LCC and the older girls organized and facilitated a number of activities and games for the kids (being leaders). Everyone had a BLAST. I went to church in Nairobi (where I learned that the G-spot is a myth-just so that you all know-stop your searching hahhahahaa true story we got the sex talk) and had to take a mitatu (public taxi bus) back which can be rather unpredictable and therefore was like an hour and a half late. Patrick (the director of the center) was worried because I wasn’t there and feared it would not happen but I was confident that the older girls would step up to the plate and go on with the plan regardless of my attendence. And sure enough they did great! When I got there I was overjoyed to see all these little warrior faces smiling up at me (we did face painting-African style) and bubbles and chalk everywhere. And there were my four girls (the older ones) right in the middle orchestrating the whole thing!! I guess I should explain-one of the things I am really focusing on is pouring into these four older girls-Grace, Elizabeth, Caroline and Diana. They are a few years older than the rest of the kiddos and this often results in a bad attitude and a desire to separate themselves from the younger ones. I really want to see them take ownership of the center and of their position as leaders to be an example in faith, life, love, and purity (think 1 Tim 4:12). I am doing a once a week bible study with them and that’s the verse we discussed last week. They spent the night at my house (everyone else was out of town so we had the house to ourselves) and we had a slumber party like you wouldn’t be believe! Haha think nail polish, bible study, activity day planning, tea, dance party and a movie. It was great. I really don’t want to be overwhelming or constantly badgering them but rather I want to grow in relationship with them as they become more and more comfortable around me and in their own skin. Our slumber party was a remarkable step in that direction. They were so excited yesterday to tell me about the activity day and what they had done!! Also in the last week we made a newspaper (to help the kids with their writing, expressing themselves, discovering their interests and taking ownership of the center). I went to Kibera (one of the slums outside of Nairobi) with Lydia, Maureen and Reagan (three Kenyan students) where we did a benefit walk and a bible lesson with some kiddos at a place called the Blue House where the average teacher to student ration (as reported by one of the teachers/pastor) is 400 to one. (not a typo). Needless to say they were very happy to see us and invited us back (lets be honest-it was more than an invitation-more like a plea) so I think I am going to start going there on Friday mornings to teach-what I don’t know but teach nonetheless. Wednesday I helped out at a feeding program and loathed myself for being white. The humility and semi-bows I received from some of the widows made me embarrassed and ashamed of my excess and privilege. I understand that there may not be a better way to get lots of food to lots of people but a food line is just so rigid and puts such a distance between the hander-outer and the receiver. I am brainstorming a more relational manner of distribution. Which reminds me-if any of you want to join me prayer for the gift of tongues please feel free. I am trying to learn Swahili and its just a slow process and the gift of tongues would be really helpful right about nowJ sounds facetious but I am serious.
I have hung out with the moms at the center a bunch as well. Hahaha they are so fun, and very eager to teach me Swahili. I will sit with them sometimes and shred carrots or cut scumewiki and just chat about kids and life and gossip. It’s too funny.
I think that’s about it for the last week and a half. Lots of meetings and connecting and figuring out and brainstorming and playing and holding kiddos (one in particular her name is Leah and shes about 4. She goes to the preschool at the center and is a hoot and a half. She will fake cry if I am holding someone else and just stand there with her arms up straining making noises until I pay her attention. She has big ears and a huge smile though she’s smaller than most of the rest. One day I was walking through the village back to the center from the Care for Aids clinic and I saw Leah on her way home from school-she doesn’t live at the center- and she just started sprinting as soon as she saw me and jumped into my arms. It was a good moment. )
I have also had some sweet sweet moments with the Lord, listening to Misty Edwards and just being overwhelmed with the love of my lover. He really is good.
All in all its been a remarkable week though I definitely miss everyone at home earnestly. I kind of wish my life (aka the people in it) could just all transfer over here- that I think would be bliss-heaven on earth. God has been faithful to provide friends such as Maureen and Lydia as well at the people at the house. He has given me creativity and opportunities to serve and connect. Its really been great. I miss you all-PLEASE don’t hesitate to send me detailed updates of your lives…I mean it it would be a tremendous blessing to me! Mungu Akubariki (God bless you) Tu Tu a nana (see you later)
shalom

habari

so i made it safe and sound to Kenya. no snags in travelling just the usual delirium that accompanies those drastic pressure changes and ridiculous time changes. :) the house i am staying at is amazing. i feel very spoiled-i mean i took a hot shower today! yesterday i took the morning slow to recover from the jet lag and then played at the children's center all afternoon. I am just kind of taking it slow figuring out what exactly my role might look like here. I am going to do some mural paintings at a new baby home they are just starting, accompany the home social worker on some house visits and do some bean sprouts activities with teh older kids in the afternoons after they get home from school. Right now I am trying my very best to be. I am not a good be-er. I am trying to bring glory to God, love intentionally and radically with Christ's heart and power in the very small and slow moments. I was really nervous about being ridiculously lonely and overwhelmed feeling like the first summer but that has not happened at all. my house is full of incredible people giving their lives away and i think i will find great community in them. thats all for now...so much love from my heart to yours!

24 hours till lift off...

OK ok so i figured out how to work the blog world and this will be where I post my deep, meaningful and insightful thoughts and reflections on my experiences over the next three months:) The Lord has given me such an incredible opportunity to go to Kenya and Uganda for the next few months!! I head out tomorrow at 3:10 pm. I will arrive the following evening in Nairobi. I keep you posted as things get crazy....
ps it is very strange to write here.
shalom