Silver Rain

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Thursday nights I can stay up later…I don’t have to walk up early on Fridays since it is my day off. YAY!

Couple of super blessings today:

1.) Skype is AMAZING! I am so grateful for it. I was able to talk and see my mom,
brother, sister-in-law, nephew and a close friend, JenV!! All five blessed the
socks off of me!! I think I skipped home because it made me that happy.

2.) I can never go back to peanut butter as I once knew it. Mary gave me the most
delicious groundnut paste (aka peanut butter) EVER! She made it all – from
shelling, to roasting and then taking it to get ground. She added some Simsim –
which is the added yumminess! It is a bit soupier than normal peanut butter
but it goes well dipping your bread in it. I asked her if she could teach me…
cuz it is just that amazing!!

3.) Children. Especially, Noah and Tegot children.

4.) My devotional this morning on Joseph from Genesis 40-41:1. Answered a bunch of
past
questions and encouraged me to remain strong and faithful. Dani – can’t wait
until we get to this week!!
5.) RASH IS GONE!! Definitely was the soap

Contentment seems to be pouring out of me. Even though there is a lot coming at me, I feel supernaturally able to withstand anything….well, we know where that comes from. When things get harder or scarier it seems more capable to be taken care of – by my BIG God!! He really does take care of everything! I am in awe. Serious awe.
I am trying to take pictures all the time. I normally don’t even think of taking pictures but knowing that there are people who are investing financially and prayerfully in the people of Gulu I feel the duty for everyone to see the faces of those they are touching. I am adding more and more here…I do have a good selection chalked up on facebook. So please check both out. I do have to say, if you ever have a lull in a conversation with a kid here, whip out the camera and take pictures. They love it!!

Rainy day at Tegot today…pictures below. Boy did it rain!! I thought it was hail…nope. Just lots of rain. It wasn’t that long but wow, did it downpour and leave an imprint! I hear that is normal for Uganda though. We had to stop teaching because it was so loud. So we played. Kids started mushing their hands on the blackboard to get chalk on them and patted their faces with the chalk dust. They then attacked Simon and Mary. What good sports.

I finally brought my dry erase markers and sheets for the kids. I worked one on one with Winnifred in unschooled class at the church in Tegot. She really was getting good at recognizing the nukuta song, the nukuta’s and writing the nukuta! I was so proud of her. She really did great. Then I used it to work with Piloya with her ABC’s but soon enough a bunch of kids wanted to use it. I let Laker and Okellya Sharon play with it too since they are all in P1 and could use the practice. Okellya started drawing pictures and soon enough so was Laker. I think I actually connected a bit with them today. That made me happy. Piloya worked hard…she never really looks happy in school settings but she sure tries. I hope she actually enjoys it. After the rain died down we worked on math. Boy, did I wish I could speak Luo fluently!! I had the hardest time trying to teach Scova how to add with tally marks – praise God for Mary and translation…she got it!!

I really like teaching…more one on one though….or small groups. I do like teaching bible better in large groups though.

Tomorrow, I am getting a bed. Wow. I am moving into a house. I am buying furniture. I must be really living in Uganda now. YAY!!

Just reminded. Alcoholism is huge here. (there were some men outside of my room talking about going out to drink). This past week there has been a man walking up and down at random times of the day (have not seen him today) screaming and yelling. Then today at Tegot an older lady came over and told me to give her gin, give her a blanket, etc. She then passed out next to us. Found out that she has AIDS and drinks a lot. There has actually been a serious problem here lately. There is a homemade type alcohol being made that has killed at least 3 women. The police are now arresting people. On our way home from Tegot we passed a side market where the police were arresting people and putting them on their truck. When we passed the market it REAKED of alcohol. Pray for this problem that has arisen as well as the continual lack of hope that leads to alcoholism.

Rain sounds so beautiful here. It is like silver dropping from the sky. All the coins clinking on the ground.

Too bad mosquitoes come after the rain…grr….at least people will have water!! PG!

Some people have mentioned how personal and real this blog has become – like they were drinking coffee with me and chatting away. That is how I want it to be. I want it to be as real as possible. For everything I am feeling and experiencing to be felt by others who can’t be here. That they feel connected to the people and the experiences. This will continue to be a VERY transparent blog…whatever I am feeling is what I will share. There might be times I won’t want to share but I know I must for people to know how it feels to be here and as well as being covered in prayer. Once I feel the need to not share or hide something, that’s when Satan will creep up and attack…don’t need that mess. So this blog will remain completely honest, open and transparent…nothing will be held back!

I do hope and pray you feel like you are just across from me talking…I hope and pray
you begin to fall in love with these people….I hope and pray you pray….I hope and pray you find what you are seeking for.