School in Uganda

School in Uganda has been an amazing experience!! I thank God for the people he has given me in my life to help me fit in. After one term I have noticed that there are many differences that have had large impacts on me. Here are a few.

First of all, school itself. We are going to a Christian School. At our public school in Canada we wouldn't learn or even talk about any gods or God. Now at Word of Life International we have daily devotions or quiet time. We have Chapel Time. (Papa is the Chaplain!) We also have Bible as a subject in class.  Lastly we have Bible clubs as well. 

School assembly out on the basketball court.  I'm leading in a time of prayer.

Secondly, no gymnasium. We don't play gym games but the up is we are always outside playing.

Games on the basketball court.

Thirdly is homework. There is a lot of homework, and in Abbotsford there have been many teachers of ours who don't want us to have homework. They even say so, so now getting maybe 1 or 2 hours a day seems like too much. But we have great averages for the three of us so it all makes sense. I got an 84% average and Nadine got 89% average for the term.

Then there is lunch. We don't bring our own lunch. There is a lunch hall which gives us a nice lunches but not always your typical Canadian meals.

Okello eating lunch in the hall with his friends.  We had "Crazy Friday" that day and that's why we are not dressed in our uniforms.

Lastly the classrooms. We have no lockers which means we have desks with insides on them. Most of the classes have chalkboards. I like the feeling of the classrooms.  (I'll get my mom to take a picture of us in our classroom when we are back next term.)

This is the lower primary block (preschool to grade 3).

So that was my blog post about WOLIS. Word of Life International School Uganda. I hope you know more about our school in Uganda.

Juma  

And the church begins!

I rejoiced with those who said to me,

"Let us go to the house of the LORD."

Psalm 122:1

What a joyous day it has been meeting together at Word of Life Fellowship Church.  We have now officially started! 

We have been having a core group of 40 people (20 adults, 20 children) attending the Bible studies throughout June.  Today about 130 people came (about 80 children and 50 adults)!

The Director of Word of Life, Thomas Obunde (on the right), emceed the service, and Gilbert Nkamwesiga assisted with translating into Luganda.

We had special visitors come all the way from Jinja (a 2-hour drive one way when traffic is good), from Jaaja Barb's Home of Angels (click on link to see what's been going on in their ministry).  Barb is a dear friend of ours from Northview Community Church in Abbotsford, BC, and she wanted so much to be a part of the opening of our church.  So Edwin and the kids came!  What a delight!  Here Edwin (center) shares about their home and their desire to come and celebrate with us (along with little Alan).

The children from Jaaja Barb's Home of Angels sing a song for us in the service.

Praying for the children as they leave for Sunday School.

Pastor Welli preaching, along with Fred interpreting in Luganda.  Today he shared from 1 John 1:1-4.  He will continue through the book of 1 John for the next couple of months.

Teacher Grace leading Sunday School.  Here they have settled down after playing a few games outside.  This picture doesn't show all of them... there were 75 in all!  (Please pray for more Sunday School leaders...)

Pastor Peter Mugabi (on the left), the Secretary General of the Baptist Union of Uganda, came to dedicate the church and to pray for this new congregation.

Fellowship in the Dining Hall afterwards, with freshly made mandazi and samosas and sodas for everyone.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for this church.  This is only the beginning!

To Start a Church... Please pray!

It has been my intention to post on our blog more often than I have.  And many have expressed they want to read about our life out here... even just every day things.  For us, life and ministry intertwine all the time, as is to be expected as missionaries.

This has been on the forefront of our minds in the last few weeks:  the start of the new church at Word of Life Uganda.  It's not easy... We knew it would be that way.  There is a lot of work before us, and we are excited for what is ahead!

For the whole month of June, we have been meeting for Bible studies on Sunday mornings, inviting the community to come.  A few have been attending already.  And there is a core group of people from Word of Life that also attend.  We've been enjoying these times!  It has been very much like a church service, only that Welli gives a short devotional that leads into a time of Bible study.  The kids have also been having Sunday school.  We are so thankful for those who are already getting involved!

In fact, on the second Sunday that we met, a gentleman who came the week before invited a friend.  We have been studying together about who Jesus is... and they said it just made sense to them now.   I had posted on Facebook that day:

"Word of Life Fellowship Church officially launches on July 6.  We have started meeting on Sunday mornings for Bible study in anticipation of this and a few people have been coming from the community.  Today was the second time we met... and 2 men gave their lives to Christ!"

We ask for prayer as the services officially start in two weeks.  We are excited about this, but also overwhelmed with the work that it takes to put things into place.

Please pray:

• That we would be a church that preaches the Word of God faithfully.
• That the community will be open to hear the Word of God.
• That those who attend will grow in their faith, know the God's Word more, and become a community of believers -- brothers and sisters in Christ.
• For wisdom for Welli as he prepares sermons each week.
• Thank God that we have those who are already willing to serve in the church:  ushers, Sunday school teachers, behind-the-scenes prep for Sunday.
• For more who would be willing to serve, especially in the areas of music/worship and leading Bible Studies.

Thank you so very much for your prayers.

Food

It's been a while since I've been on the blog, and I've just realized looking at it that I didn't post anything in May!  That's simply too long a time, especially when it was my goal to post regularly.  A lot has changed in the month of May, with the kids going to school and myself working too.  I will write about that soon.

Truth be told, there's a lot I could write about.  There's usually so much in my head that I don't even know where to begin.  Sometimes I think of crazy and funny things going on, that my friends and family in Canada would get a kick out of reading.  Other times I think more seriously about spiritual things or how I miss people and life in Canada.  A lot to sort through in my mind.

For today, I thought I would keep it light... and write about food.  For friends that live here in East Africa and read this, maybe you will find this strange, because this is life for you.  Yet you might learn something as well from a Canadian perspective of someone who is adjusting to not only eating different, but shopping and preparing food different than I'm usually used to.

First of all, I cook almost everything from scratch.  No such thing as convenience foods (or if there are, they are simply outrageously expensive).  This isn't bad though... eating this way is much healthier.  But it is more time consuming, and sometimes when I'm just too tired to cook, I have to anyway.  For us, a quick dinner when we are tired is usually eggs and ugali.  There is no drive through or takeaway close by.  We would have to drive to Kampala for that, and it's not worth fighting traffic to do so.  There are cooked foods we can find and purchase ready to eat, such as barbecue pork or chicken on a stick and chapati.  It tastes good.

Don't get me wrong... there are options!  There are some great restaurants.  We have some favourites already... and many more to try out yet.  There is even a KFC in Kampala, and another to come in Entebbe.  There are some great coffee shops as well.

You can find a lot of things here you would find in Canada, but often at a price that I don't feel good about spending.  I can find tomato sauce to make pasta, but it's half the size and double the price.  The same is for cottage cheese... half the size, double the price.  So, a favourite dish of the kids, lasagna, has not been eaten now in four months.  (It's time to go check out an Italian restaurant, I say!)

I was excited at first that we get the Food Network Channel on TV here.  But I find that I don't watch it so much... it reminds me of food I cannot make!  Oh well... Again, getting adjusted to a new normal.

The kids used to complain at first about the way things taste different... the meat tastes different, the milk tastes different (Juma already wrote about that), but of late they haven't said much, which shows me they are getting used to it.  And I'm getting better at cooking various things.

As I said, I do make more from scratch, including flour tortillas (an item I have not found in supermarkets here... been told of a good Mexican restaurant though, which we also still need to check out).

These are the joys of adjustment.  And I will continue to keep working at it!

Until next time....

Things that are different - Juma

There are many things that are different for me living in Uganda.  I would show you all of them but I will only show you four.  (It takes sooooo long to upload pictures!)

1. We drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right.  Recently Okello, Nadine and I have gotten mixed up because we are so used to going to the same side as the driver.  Then we realize that there is no door on that side of the van.

2. In Uganda there are many mosquitoes.  They like me and especially Okello.  It's annoying and we don't want to get malaria.  So we sleep under mosquito nets.  Surprisingly, I got used to it very quickly.

3. Notice the next picture of milk says, "Full Cream Milk."  That and whole milk are what you find in the stores.  Sometimes you can find skim milk but not often. We haven't seen my favourite milk, 2% milk. This milk is very rich and I don't prefer it so we add cold water to our cups of milk.  Or, my mom makes chai, which is tea with milk (see picture below milk).  We have chai at breakfast and as an afternoon snack. I am starting to get tired of it.  But Papa will never say no to chai. 

4.  We now have a dog!  In Canada, Papa said that we would not have a dog because of where we lived.  Now we have a guard dog for security.  Right now he's still a puppy and he likes to play, as you can see in the picture.  His name is Lobo, which means "wolf" in Spanish.  He is very jumpy in the morning but then when the evening comes he is tired, which is interesting because that's the opposite from me.  I don't want to run around with him in the morning, but I would rather in the evening.  He is a good dog and I'm happy that we have a pet.  I didn't think it would be this fun.  The only thing I don't like is cleaning up his poop. 

I'll show you more some other time.

~ Juma

Kenya - Part 2

After spending a few days at our parents' place in Koru, Kenya, we left for Nairobi on Thursday, March 27.  While the drive to the city wasn't anything different than what we had been used to 10 years ago, when we reached the outskirts of Nairobi, we were pleasantly surprised by the many changes that had taken place:  the road system, the trees, the skyline (many new buildings).  We even got a bit disoriented traveling from Westlands to Kahawa (different parts of the city).

Again, we spent time visiting family for the most part, but also a few friends.  We simply could not see all the friends we wanted to, and hope to see more again on another trip.  We saw many, many friends at Parklands Baptist Church on Sunday morning.  It was a great few days in the city and we look forward to returning again later this year.

On the last day before the long drive back to Uganda, we visited Word of Life Kabete (just outside of Nairobi).  So many memories came flooding back... Welli had spent over 13 years there... he and I lived there the first few months after we were married... a lot of great ministry and outreach has taken place there and we were very happy to see the beautiful grounds, but also dear friends there.

We are grateful for the hospitality we received from family and friends!

Lovely Maasai blankets and other Kenyan artifacts on display as we stopped to view the Great Rift Valley.

Just outside of downtown Nairobi.

It's a full house at Parklands Baptist Church.

Out for lunch with friends.  Great reunion after 10 years!  (Okello just cannot be serious in a photo!)

Kenya National Archives.  Looks much better than 10 years ago.

Downtown Nairobi skyline

Welli's brother, Gordon, his wife, Dorcas, and their daughter, Brenda  (um... Okello)

Word of Life Kabete-Nairobi

Beautiful grounds of Word of Life

Word of Life

Another view of Word of Life (from the soccer field)

Kenya - Part 1

As most of you know (yes, there may be some readers who do not know), Welli is from Kenya.  His family in Kenya have been aware that we are in Uganda, and were eagerly waiting for a visit from us.  We, too, were eager to visit the extended family!

So we left early in the morning on Sunday, March 23.  We crossed the border from Uganda into Kenya with no difficulty.  We made it into Kisumu by early afternoon.  Kisumu is the biggest city close to where Welli's parents live, where we had some lunch, and also picked up a few items to take home.

And a joyful reunion it was!  Juma and Nadine and I (Dolly) had not seen "Babu and Dana" (Grandpa and Grandma) in almost 10 years.  Juma and Nadine do not remember the last time they saw them, as they were less than 2 years old.  As well, this was the first time Okello met them.  We were also glad to see other family members: Welli's brother (and his family) and sister (and her daughter).  The kids really enjoyed meeting and getting to know a few of their cousins.

Here are a few photos...

This is the Nile River.  We cross it as we pass through the town of Jinja, which is not too far from the border of Uganda/Kenya.  Lake Victoria is the source of the Nile.

Driving to Koru, the town where Welli's parents live.  We know we are coming close when we see this hill.

Babu & Dana's home

Enjoying the mango tree.

We went into Kisumu again on Wednesday and visited with Welli's sister, Caroline, and her son, Rogers. We went and had lunch at Lake Victoria, eating fresh fish.

Cousins watching TV.

Cousins playing a game.

Family photo with Babu & Dana.

Stay tuned for Part 2, covering our time we were in Nairobi.