Lake Victoria

Down by the lake

Lake Victoria

This is from when Jean, Nick, and I drove down to near Entebbe to sit, read, relax, and take some pictures by beautiful Lake Victoria.

Youth Group

This is our first youth group meeting. We're sitting on each other all at the same time. The girls did not do a great job of this. :)

It's a Small World...

I don’t have anything substantial to say… but I do have a funny experience I’d like to share. Yesterday our WGM Kampala had a prayer meeting at one of the missionary’s houses. This particular family lives too far from my apartment to walk to. So after school I had to walk up to the Duplex (2 house that are connected, that are shared by 2 WGM missionary families.) to drop a bill off in the finance office and see if I could get a ride to the meeting. So we’re walking up the first big hill and it’s like hiking up any normal semi-steep hillside. As we round the corner at the top we can faintly hear “It’s a Small World” playing from somewhere.
Well this isn’t the first time I’ve heard that song playing randomly around here. I was working in my classroom at the school last Sunday before evening fellowship and I heard it playing. It’s always pretty faint though.
So anyways as we round the corner and are on flat ground for a while before we begin the next hill, “It’s a Small World” grows louder and louder. I say to my roomie, “sounds like it could be an ice cream man. How awesome would that be?!” Then we talk about how we’ve heard it before. All the while the song is growing louder. Well about 45 seconds later a bike rolls by with an orange Gatorade-type cooler, with a sign on it that says ‘ice cream’.
I’m guessing you don’t find this as funny as I did, but it was just perfect. There is so much need and a lack of so many things here, even in the city; yet there is an ice cream man... with a boom box... and a cooler full of ice cream.
Anypoo, I’m a day away from the end of my second week of teaching and I’m pretty pumped about that. I like my job/ministry, but I love Saturdays. I’m not sure what’s going down this weekend, but maybe some paintball at the place we found last weekend. Maybe catching a movie. I’d like to check out this orphanage that a couple girls I know volunteer at.
Oh, something else that’s kind of exciting… last night we were invited for dinner at a house that has decent internet. So we brought out computers to email and Skype. My roommate has a newer Mac than I do and her’s has a web cam built in. Well I use skype on my computer a lot, but I used her computer so that when I called my sister, the baby could see me. I was sad I couldn’t see her, but knowing that she was so excited to see me was awesome. I’m hoping my family gets a web cam soon so that I can see the girlies.
Be praying for the teachers and students at HIS, for our health. Quite a few teachers have already missed a day of work and on of the MKs has missed two days. There are a ton of germs when there are that many kids in small spaces and they love to touch EVERYTHING and everyone around them. Gross. So, please be praying for that. Also, if you would still be in prayer about my finances, that would be much appreciated. Thank you for being supportive. Thanks for being faithful servants with me! ☺
Love,
Chris

10 Hours

Hello friends! I’m in my second week of school right now and all is well. Honestly, it’s a big challenge, but I see progress in the students already. We have our first big test tomorrow in Social Studies. I guess we’ll see how things are going after I’ve graded their tests. What’s nice is that my grade has most of their specials like art, music, and French in the afternoons, so I have the opportunity to grade, make copies, and get prepared for the next day. I don’t have too much home with me at all. I like being able to leave and leave my work at work. You know? Plus this way I have the opportunity to focus on the youth and stuff with that.
Speaking of the youth, we had our beginning of the year youth bash on Friday night. We met at my VIA coordinator, Lisa’s house. We weren’t expecting more than maybe 12 or 15 kids to come, but 23 showed up! It was awesome. They’re a good group of kids, rough around the edges, but a good group. Nick, Lisa, and I are running things right now. So when we first got there we started off with some games and the kids absolutely loved them. ( some parents told us on Monday how much their kids were talking about the games.) ☺ After the games we ate tons of food… everyone brought something to share. After food we had a few more games to tie into the lesson. Then Lisa did the lesson, and then we had the kids write down things they wanted to learn about or talk about at youth group. I thought it would be a good idea because it seemed to work well with my youth back in the states. Then we did a few songs and the kids were on their way.
My only reservation with all this is the age difference between some of the kids. We have 7th through 12th graders all in one group. I’d like to split them up and do some more age appropriate stuff.
So anyways, this past weekend was nice and relaxing. Jean and I took the car and went exploring on Saturday. When we got up and around we went and used the internet for a while and then we went out. We looked into geocaching and found that there are some caches fairly close to where we live. Yay for bringing my gps! After we got all or info we went exploring. We wanted to go down to Lake Victoria and just chill, but instead we went to check out a resort on the lake. They have an amazing pool that we can pay to use whenever, so we wanted to get info on prices and stuff.
Sidebar: So those of you that know me freakishly well know that it is one of my dreams to swim in a place with a bar in the pool. Why? Because I just think it’s awesome! How fun would that be? I don’t even drink alcohol, but who wouldn’t want a nice glass of pop while they’re swimming around. Well, the pool has a bar in it!! I can now go where ever on my honeymoon… I’m no longer restricted to somewhere with a bar in the pool because my dream will come true at some point this semester.
Moving on, Nick had us over for dinner and then we hung out and played some games. Sunday Jean and I went to church at an Anglican church, not an Africa Gospel Church this week. It was a neat service. We were two of three mzungus there. We went for lunch at a cute café after church, came home, got our stuff, went down to the school to do some planning for Monday, and then met in the library with some WGMers and a few others for Sunday night fellowship. We led worship, which was great because they generally sing old songs not many people know and they do them a’cappella. A’cappella is ok sometimes, but I don’t like it all the time. We’re watching a DVD series for fellowship by Louie Giglio. The lesson Sunday was great… it totally tied into what I did for devos every morning with my class last week.
So now I’m in week two and even though things are going well it seems like the year is going to drag on. I think time will start moving faster once the subject matter starts advancing a bit. Right now we’re still reviewing a bit. Also things will pick up as I get to know the youth better and we’re all hanging out more. I already have a few of them picked out as some I would love to work on. One’s that I can’t wait to see what God has in store for them, you know?
So anyways, I’m starting to miss home a bit. The worst part is not being able to see my nieces growing and learning new things everyday. Alexandria still recognizes my voice and gets smiley when I talk to her, but I wish I could see her face. She has learned so many new things in just the past 3 weeks since I’ve been gone. There’s this song I’ve been introduced to this week called 10 Hours by Warren Barfield. He’s a Christian artist out of Nashville right now. Check out his myspace page if you have the chance.
Well folks, there are some new pics up on facebook… pics of my classroom and some other stuff. I hope all is well with you. The Lord is so good and so faithful. I hope you’re finding that to be true everyday for you. This morning I read Matthew 16:24-28 to my class during out morning devotional time. I encourage you to read it today and make it true for your lives everyday. Much love, homies!

Dirt Roads and Mighty Words

Well my goal is to post once or twice a week and so far I haven't followed through, but now that I have more of a schedule it is my plan to do so. Well, last week I had orientation for the school monday, tuesday, and wednesday morning until lunch. After lunch we were given the opportunity to work in our classrooms and get stuff set up. I was done and set up by tuesday, so I spent my time writing lesson plans and helping others set their rooms up. Thursday and Friday were registration days and we were asked to be in the classroom as much as possible to meet the students and their parents. Thursday we had a team meeting within WGM to get caught up on things and find out what the plan is for the next few weeks. It's mainly for the career missionaries, but as VIA we (Nick, Jean, and I) are allowed and encouraged to sit in because we're long term VIA (volunteers in action).
The meeting was informative and I learned a ton about the field here in Kampala and a little bit about what our team in the northern part of the country is doing. I've also had the opportunity to spend more time with each of the missionary families and their kids and I just love them all. There is one family here from Chillicothe, OH where a good friend of mine is from, so it's fun to hang out with them. They are a little reminder of home everyday. They're just so comfortable and loving. They have two girls who are high school age and I'm enjoying getting to know them. Nick, Jean, and I, all being VIA try and hang out with the kids and get to spend some time with them. I believe that MKs are just another ministry to be involved in. One of the MKs is in my 6th grade class and I love him!
Speaking of class, I only have 4 student because a few were not able to return for one reason or another. Easy right? Well one of my students just arrived here from South Korea and doesn't speak english much beyond casual greetings. BUT we've only had 3 days of class and our communication has already improved greatly. She is really getting involved in class now. I'm excited to see how she grows over the next year. 6th grade is a fun age for me because they still actually want to learn. They still ask questions and they still (for the most part) pay attention. Something that I am so excited about is teaching my bible class as a part of the curriculum. Teaching in a Christian school has it's advantages.
There are many other first year teachers here who never went to college for Education either, so it's been an encouragement and I really feel like I can do it. I have support in all directions. Our principal is wonderful and she is also very supportive of me.
So other than that I've been slowly learning my way around. Me, Nick, and Jean share on vehicle and since Nick doesn't live within walking distance of the school he usually has the car. But this weekend I got to drive around Kampala and do some last minute school shopping. Driving on the left isn't the tricky part here... the tricky part is not dying. But in all seriousness there are laws, but none of them are in place. It is normal to see cars passing uphill, stopping where ever they want, driving on the wrong side, you name it, they do it. The 'boda bodas' or motorcycles for hire are the craziest drivers so far though. I've yet to have to take a boda and my plan is to never have to, but you never know. I like motorcycles, but I also like not weaving in and out of traffic and obeying common courtesy laws.
I've now been to two of the churches that WGM has planted here in Kampala and the surrounding areas. The goal is so train Ugandans to be pastors, help them get their church started, and then for them to run everything on their own. It seems pretty successful so far. The Ugandan pastors that I've met are really nice and VERY welcoming. Of course I'm normally the only Muzungo in the service, along with whoever I came with, but I like it that way. We do a worship service here at the school on sunday evenings. It's open to everyone, but it seems like a very WGM populated group. This week Nick and I are leading worship, so I'm excited about that. I am so glad I decided to bring my guitar!
I've already been to the movie theatre here, but the only thing I wanted to see was the Dark Knight, which I'd seen before, but it was good. I've been to the mall and lots of little stores along the road called dukas. This past friday we went to "friday market" which is just an out door market where crafts, clothing, gifts, jewelry, and stuff like that is sold. It was a very cool experience. Of course I've had experience bartering from when I was in Mexico, but this was much more interactive and competitive.
I've not really had any feelings of homesickness yet, but I do sometimes feel like I'm missing a lot of stuff in the states. I don't like not being able to pick up my phone and talk to someone for an hour or two without it costing 60,000UGX, you know? But I'll survive. So what if I wake up at 5:30 am to talk to people, at least I get to hear your voices!
I wish I could box you all up and have you shipped to me because there's so much I want to show you and tell you about and I don't do any of it justice with my words.
Would you all be continually be praying for the field here in Uganda, specifically for our Kampala team. Pray for Heritage International School (HIS) as some roles are still not filled and the year is underway. Pray for teachers and students as we've already had a number of absences due to illness. Pray for the students to open their hearts and be willing to receive Christ for those that don't know Him, and for those that do that they would draw nearer to Him daily. Pray for Uganda. Pray for the people. I've never met people more kind and welcoming in my life. This is a beautiful place with it's orange/red dirt roads, random animals wandering the streets, and the sounds of children's laughter as they play games with an empty bottle in the street. For some this would be their worst nightmare... when the power goes out we have no hot water and our toilet doesn't flush, we will never have air conditioning in our apartment or the internet. We have to wash out clothes by hand, boil water just to brush our teeth. There are giant bugs creeping around everywhere. When we buy "fresh" fruit from the market we have to soak it in bleach water to kill the parasites and then let it air dry completely before consuming. Normal things like cheap shampoo are about 5 dollars for a small bottle. There is a mosquito net over my bed, and I can't go out after dark because of safety issues. But it's not a nightmare to me... it's actually beautiful. Of course there are comforts I miss, but there are also experiences to be had and I wouldn't want to stifle myself or my God by giving up or checking out.
I pray that you're blessed and encouraged by the things you've read. I pray that you would gain a little understanding of what I get to experience here and the ways that God is moving. He is here, He is big, and His plans are perfect. I take rest and comfort in that. Joshua 1:9 says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you where ever you go." Thank God that He keeps His word. Thank God that He is with me here and also with you there. I love you all very much! Please keep me updated on your lives and let me know how I can be praying for you, k?
Love,
Chris

ps it's less than a dollar to send snail mail letters. (again, hint hint!)

H.I.S.

Heritage International School. This is where I'm teaching 6th grade. This is a pic of the Admin building and part of the secondary classrooms.