At Home in Africa

Everything here is different. The smells, the sounds, the flavors are all different. The way people to relate to one another is one of the biggest differences. The people here are so warm and polite in such a a genuine way. Caitlin, Erin, and i were sitting in an office waiting for someone and, as many people passed through, we noticed that the only person not to greet us was a white guy. People here know how to welcome one another and how to celebrate one another. I keep praying that this spirit will sink into my heart. I want to be more African when i come home to America. Someone told us today that we look African because of how we are dressed. I think that was one of the biggest compliments someone could pay us here.



For all those who are curious, yes, we did arrive safely and all of our luggage arrived safely. We are well and we are being taken care of well. We are currently sitting in a small, cozy restaurant with wireless and a wonderful Kenyan couple we just met today, chatting about everything from religion, politics, and history to what snow it like and how African weddings are different from American weddings. We're staying in a guest house called Adonai House until tomorrow when we may be moving in with a Ugandan pastor and his family. That will be both challenging and amazing.



We will be working at Sanyu Babies Home almost every morning and at St. Mary Kevin Primary School and Orphanage a few afternoons each week while we're in Kampala. We have visited both places to arrange times for us to volunteer and we can't wait to get started. Mama Rosemary works at St. Mary Kevin. I think she's one of my favorite Ugandans so far.



Today we went to church. It was a lot of fun to worship with Africans. I want to learn their music! When the kids were dismissed, we went with them and sat in on a Sunday school class. We will be teaching this class next Sunday. When they first asked us to teach Sunday school, we were pretty intimidated, but now that we've met the kids, we're excited about it. There were about 10 kids around the age of 6th grade. I think they might know more about the Bible than we do.



I love African children! They flock to us because we're white. They call us "muzungu" and can't wait to be close to us. They're so eager to be loved, which makes us a perfect match because we are just as eager to love them. Yesterday, we got to walk through a village with a bunch of kids and they tried to teach us Luganda. We picked up a few words. Fortunately, we video taped most of it so we can go back and review.



Continue praying for us. Our hearts are crying out to be able to do something that really makes and impact. Pray for us to not be discouraged when our limited, human vision keeps us from seeing how we're advancing the Kingdom of God. Mother Teresa said, "You can do no great things, only small things with great love." We believe that great love can make a small thing great. Scripture tells us that love can cover a multitude of sins. It's powerful. Scripture also tells us that perfect love casts out fear. And that's a big deal here in Uganda. The enemy has been working hard for a long time to instill a spirit of fear in the people, especially the children. Pray for us to not forget that simply loving can work wonders. Pray for us to not allow our own expectations to get in the way.



I'm going to get back to the conversation now. We're all cracking up now about being able to fart in the presence of your significant other. This woman is hilarious.



We love you all and we'll hopefully have the opportunity to share more stories soon.