Exodus

Exodus

So I made it! The Song of Songs was a success because I was faithful to complete to the best of my ability ;) I had so much fun teaching it and I really believe Gods favor and delight was on the teaching and ministering to people in a new way. I was able to teach it in the four days given on Kirewe Island. The best teaching came at Namiti. I wasn’t planning on teaching there, but a pastor approached me after my first day at Kirewe and asked if I could teach in the mornings at Namiti since the afternoons were at Kirewe. Namiti was so good. I didn’t have as much time to teach at Namiti, only 2-days about a total of 5-hours including translation, but it was so good because I was free to more or less preach on the song of songs because there was no way they were going to get all of the detail of the bible study. So namiti still got the whole package, and in my eyes the best package out of all three I spoke at because I had freedom to be me and I didn’t feel the pressure to define all the little details. I loved it and it was so much fun!

So I have a new appreciation for the book of exodus and for the people of Kirewe and Namiti islands. I never really realized how real the plagues could be until this weekend. As I was walking down to the beach to get into the boat to travel about a mile to Kirewe island from Namiti (where I was sleeping) it started snowing…. Now I know I am living on the equator… so this couldn’t possibly be feasible! But, it wasn’t the cold snow we are used to it was the snow of the lake flies of Lake Victoria. They come so thick that from a distance they look like a low-lying cloud blown in by the wind. I was experiencing a plague of lake flies. No joke. And they would get anywhere…. Fly in my eardrum, into my eye (by the end of my time I had to get some medicated eye-drops because my eyes were so irritated), my mouth if it was caught open even for a second (it was good protein)! Later in the night while the fight of the lake flies was still strong, I played frogger! Everywhere I stepped I was attempting to avoid a frog, the unfortunate ones got squashed but they are amazingly resilient and they bounced right back. Others as I walked couldn’t resist kissing my feet by jumping on me, I was hoping for one to turn into a prince but I was unwilling to reciprocate the gesture! Then as sleep was trying to overtake me the plague of the cockroaches was on! Now these are no ordinary cockroaches… these things are the length of my thumb, not as thick but slightly wider! I’ve realized I have been here to long, when I lose hope trying to kill them and I just allow them to sleep with me… One was trying to make a home or something in my hair…I flicked him away and kept on sleeping! You know for me it was an adventure because I don’t live this way everyday, so I can smile and laugh. To live this way everyday of your life is a real sacrifice and I am thankful for the experience and appreciate the men and women who don’t even realize the sacrifice they make because it is such a way of life.

So my last days will be filled with helping with administration details for different people and organizations. I am helping my friend, Robert, on his community-based organization, BISCA (Buvuma Islands saving and credit association), we are working on a brochure to give out to the people interested in bisca wanting to know more infor. I am helping Karina with her non-profit government organization that she is starting up by continuing with the organizing of parts of it…especially the aspects of the secondary school and the child development. And lastly I will continue to stand with Olive and Okoro and help them budget and make a plan for the future.

And most importantly I will be saying all of my goodbyes to those who have come so close to my heart. I’ll be packing up and preparing to come home!

Ugandan News

So as Jess and I were walking through town tonight we realized all of the supermarkets were closed down. We wondered to ourselves if there was a muslim holiday or something since almost all supermarkets are owned by Indian families. When we met up with our friend Henry, he informed us that today an Indian man (or men, not sure yet) was beaten to death in Kampala. The dispute was over a large piece of land that government had sold to an Indian man. The land is a large forest area that the man plans on cutting down to plant sugar cane. I guess there has been arguments over this for sometime and it has now turned violent. The Indian community has always been looked down upon since the Idi Amin government. As i understand local African's feel that Indians are always trying to take from them and are only in Uganda to prosper and not to give back to the community. This piece of land has been an educational landmark for African's and they are very upset and want this man to purchase some other land that doesn't involve the 'forest' area. Therefore today because of the beating all local store owners closed shop. Please pray that this matter gets resolved peacefully. Loving you!

TREASURES

What have I been up to…


…I’ve been spending a lot of time with Saida, the witchdoctors’ wife, the woman who gave her life to the Lord a few months back. I really enjoy my relationship with her and her husband. I really believe that the Lord wants to bring him to salvation. He is open with me and enjoys when Saida and I read the word together he just does not allow her to attend church because he thinks others in the community will view him as being weak and not having a respectful wife…. Respectful to his muslim faith and to his position as the island witchdoctor.

……karina, a friend and a woman who is on the islands with me serving and who is committed her life here is in the midst of starting an NGO (non-government organization) and is waiting on the registration process. I have been helping her get the finances and admin. structured. The ngo has many facets, a clean water project, discipleship training, heathcare and the child sponsorship/development that I’ve written about in the past…that’s exciting!

…. Also the school is soon to be registered… or so it always seems to be until they need another paper or signature or whatever. I am praying for this process that it goes quick from here on and the school will be registered! The school is going on well, the senior 4 class (they take a big examination at this level to move onto the next level, depending on how they score determines their next step) is registered for their examination at a school on the mainland (once we are registered they will be able to take their examination at our school and save a lot of money!), the teachers have been getting their salary every month, the school is not in debt, communication is happening, students are doing practicals because some of the lab equipment is bought, there is student housing to provide safety for the students from being in the camp and a serious learning environment is being cultivated, and I believe and have heard from the mouths of students that there is real unity amongst the teachers. This past week I was the honored guest (pretty much because I was the only one around!) for the student prefect party (the student leaders). It was great for the students and staff to come together to honor the student prefects and to say goodbye and thank you to last years prefects. I spoke about leaders and the two types of leaders the bible talks about… David versus Saul leaders and how Jesus too modeled the perfect type of servant leadership we should all be aiming at. I thank God because he gave me words.

…I am excited because my duties of serving ywam with their finances will be transferred over as of April 1st. Catherine, the women who runs the ywam base with her husband Shem will be taking it.

…A little African fun…. This last week I took a Sabbath day and boated around the entire island with my friends Robert and Innocent. The waves on the other side of the island were pretty rough since the lake opens up to the larger part of the lake, so it was so good it was three of us. it was so fun and most locals couldn’t believe that a woman could boat (here boats travel primarily for fishing and I’ve only seen men doing the fishing).



…my flight details are here for my departure home…my Ugandan visa expired may 25th and the gov’t has been really tough on us with renewal, therefore I am departing 1-2weeks before I originally hoped too, but my visa has been such a struggle yet a blessing in disguise, but I am done playing the visa game and I am coming home. So I depart on the 23rd of May and arrive on the 24th of May in the afternoon in Chicago.


…so a bit of my process about coming home….
As my time is coming to an end my heart and mind feel as though they are beginning to enter back to the US while with the reality of being very much here in Uganda. Last night, after dark, I had to go out and bring my super dishes to the dish rack after the realization of 100’s of ants piling into the left over scraps on my plate left in my room… as I went, I grabbed my toothbrush (you know me always trying to multi-task :))… as I walked with dishes in one hand and the toothbrush in the other, I dropped the dishes at the rack and started looking for a place to spit my toothpaste... now remember I have no sink to wash up… I am left to the wild, but you can’t just spit anywhere it has to be in a secret strategic place that is off the beaten path because if rain doesn’t come for sometime the white toothpaste in the path doesn’t look so pleasant. as I was thinking about where to ‘release my toothpaste’ (doesn’t that sound better :) ) and I was thinking how I have only two more months to enjoy the toothpaste game in the wild!

I have come to love Africa, the people the most and I have loved every moment of my time (well almost… ;) ). I have found peace and a part of home. Home is where you make it and I believe I can find home anywhere partnered with treasures (people dear to my heart).

The other day I sat open handed before the Lord, excited for what he wanted to speak to me concerning direction for next year… I believe the Lord is specific at times and other times he leaves it fully up to us, but I have peace about serving in the public schools and returning to my profession. Therefore I am choosing to step back into the schools. At times I have really struggled in this sphere and I think that the public school is a challenge for me, and really difficult at times. I am hoping for an east side position to open in the middle school (preferably) or even the high school. I tried to submit an application for an assistant principal position a few weeks back but failed due to the documents refusing to upload from the computers here in Africa. So I let that go.

I am doing my best to follow my heart and my desires that God has placed inside of me… why sometimes does that seem difficult? It seems like it should be so easy… it probably is, and I just make things difficult. I just want my life to bring Glory to Him.

I am glad I am moving back to Madison to stay near my treasures.

Love you all,
mandy

a quote from a friend: Christianity is not primarily a moral code but a grace-laden mystery; not essentially a philosophy of love but a love affair; it is not keeping rules with clenched fists but receiving a gift with open hands.

Seasons

So the update I’ve been wanting to send… I am feeling a bit weak today, I am unsure why, but I just ordered some spaghetti from my favorite café… I figure if its just because I have low energy this should zap it, if not, I’ll check for malaria this evening. Hopefully no Malaria!

Random Updates…
The school has just started its second year and it is really going on well! So far there are no debts J although there are still many needs for the school…. For example we are still in need of one more mud dormitory for the teachers ($2000)… you may think why not brick… we’ll sure, but that adds about $20,000 to the cost!… we are looking to get a fence to keep the animals out from eating the gardens…($3000)…. Also we are hoping to get the school registered this month we are just waiting for the church to finish revising their constitution.

My friend Ruthie, a girl from Oregon is leaving to go back to the states this weekend L she has been a great friend to me during my stay here and I am really going to miss her!

I have been teaching the Song of Songs, and I love it! I am teaching it from the perspective of King Solomon representing Jesus and the Maiden representing us, the individual believer. I am using Mike Bikles study on this along with Shane Holden, my pastor from Mad City. Personally I have loved this study and a women got up in church this past Sunday and gave a testimony about how God affected her heart through the study… it was really encouraging to me. .

Can you believe I only have two months left!!!! I can’t! I’ve been thinking a lot about the next season…

Current Life Process…
When I was in Cape Town I had gone to see a movie, ‘the pursuit of happyness’, with the family I had been staying with. Sometimes you just watch a movie and you really don’t feel moved by it… but this movie really did something in my heart. I really felt like God could have spoken anything through that movie, but He really choose to speak to me about Madison, and about coming home. I was really surprised; I went back that night and just prayed about it. I felt like God really gave me a new joy and excitement to come home… the last thing I thought He was going to speak and also an excitement that I’ve never really felt before. He even gave me peace about returning to teaching or applying for an assistant principal position if I so desire…. I think that it is not so much of a certain place God has me and if I don’t go there I am going to blow it. I don’t think God is like that. I know he can speak very specifically and if he wants me to part the Red Sea he’ll make it clear, I don’t doubt that. I am just trying to say, that God calls us to follow our heart. What is really in my heart that is going to excite me… and I believe He says, ‘Go, run and do that… I’ll bless you either way (whether you choose to stay in Africa or go home to Madison, or even move to Cape Town!), your not going to miss my will as long as you stay looking at me.’ Part of my process is just trying to figure out what is really in my heart. And I’ve been asking God to help me figure out what is really in there. So this even feels funny to type, because this is the last thing I thought I would be typing… but I am coming home next year…. Actually in two months! At least for a year, and who knows after that… I really don’t think that this is it for overseas ‘missions’ (I don’t know why, but I hate that word!)…. that I’ll leave Africa and never return…. I really believe there is a call on my life in some degree to overseas work. I love it. I love the people here, I’ve adjusted to the way of life fairly easy (especially with such great support back at home… I really think that is why)… part of me feels like I could be picked up and thrown anywhere to live. I’ll steal the words of my friend Erin, because they are true for me too, ‘I love the church of God’… it doesn’t matter where, I just do (even with all of its brokenness, I still love it). I loved David Shirks message that he spoke at madcity church awhile back about the ‘treasure in the field’ (I just listened to the CD that got sent over thanks to my brother, the best brother ever, even if he is more stubborn than me :) ) and how so often we go looking for a nice city, as if that is a treasure, or a ‘good job’ as if that is the treasure and he says that the Treasure is in the people. Where are you closely linked with others, that is where you should be moving, not to some nice job where you know no one in the city… but let the treasure, the people dictate where you are in life…. Not a job, not a great city, not the ocean (which I love :) ).. but the treasure is always in the people. I loved that message. And who knows what I’ll be doing in Madison when I return. I am trying to keep all doors open…I am open to going back to teaching, I am open to trying for an assistant principal job, I am open to serving in the church… we’ll see what doors open in the next few months and where my heart leaps the greatest. But I want to say thank you for continuing to stand with me in life, and encouraging me… I sure need it!

I love you all,
mandy

BEN SCHUMACHER... i told you i would find a way to honor you for remembering what your elbow fat was called! way to go Ben :)

So i was asked by my friend Krystle to write about how i am really doing... and i thought what i wrote would be good for you too... so i have included some personal process along with whats next for me....

so, overall i am doing really well and loving Uganda. Uganda, for me, has been relatively easy to adjust to and live in. the only thing that really bothers me is driving anywhere and the roads. they are extremely unsafe because of the terrible condition of the roads and because almost everybody drives way to fast. i know if i come home to the u.s. my speed will decrease (yes mom and tab it will :) ), because as i even think about how fast i drive at times was careless. i have a new appreciation for life and how fragile it is. our life can be gone in a second and i don't want some careless mistake to be the reason for the life of anyone i love including my own. sure i miss hot showers and love it when i actually get a hot shower. when i went to Tanzania it was so great because i forgot about the hot shower game i used to play in the u.s. you know when the water is so hot you have to avoid the water through dancing and try to reach around the water without getting scalded to turn the cold up! i forgot all about that! There are a lot of things i miss when i really think about them, but for whatever reason it doesn't really bother me. of course missing family and friends is difficult. and when the mad city team was just here it was like a piece of home. the first night on the islands when i received all of my gifts from everyone back home I started tearing up. Erin Rufledt and I sat on my bed with tears rolling down both of our faces just talking about life and people. I was overwhelmed with all of the love I felt and how I was reminded at how much I love everyone back at home. It was like a piece of the ones I love was sent over. I got to have 1-1 talks with both pastors… brian and joel. That was great, to have real counsel and authority I really respect to process life with. I love our pastors so much because they are so grace filled, loving and supportive. It was hard to see the mad city team go because family was leaving and the time seemed to short. I am trying to process all of which I feel God is speaking to me (not some audible voice, just where i have peace in my heart). A few weeks back in my quiet time I felt like God was asking me if I would be willing to come back to Africa. After crying for about 10min. I finally sad yes, I am willing. But I am scared. Scared of missing out on something, scared of miss hearing from God… running into something that maybe He’s not in. but I know that I am not rebellious, I know that my heart is sincere before God. I know I have my heart is submitted to Him along with the authority at mad city…. So I don’t believe I can really blow it but I just get scared. Scared of being alone and running life alone, but when I think about it I am not alone at all. Fear of man creeps in…. not having a ‘stable job’… ‘no insurance’… ‘wasting all my schooling’. but I know that God is bigger than all of those thing and that He will care. And I can’t live my life in fear and I can’t let fear keep me from the things of God. I have to keep stepping out and following Him, I know this. So I am waiting for confirmation on where to step. I really feel like I heard from God but maybe the timing is off and I should come home for a year. I would love to come alongside of Elliott and Joe and help out at the training center BI (if they would still have me) and maybe do the prayer internship… therefore releasing my teaching job and find part-time work somewhere) But I think that actually I will be here for another year… especially helping at the school, teaching in discipleship (especially the song of songs), and continuing to help olive and okoro through there transition… which isn’t exactly clear just yet. But I haven’t had any confirming words either way so I don’t know exactly where to step just yet. I am still waiting. But at times I am tired of all of this transition. I wish that I knew where I wanted to spend my life with smaller transitions. When I was sharing all of this with Brian he told me he thinks that I need to pray about being in the ‘ministry for the next 5-10 or 20 years… whatever I felt, but he told me to pray about it. Part of me feels a lot of peace and freedom and like a new brain passage way was opened when he said that. I don’t know but that too is scary ;) what I just wanted to type is that it is just scary because I am making these decisions alone, but really I am not. I have so many friends and family around me to help me. I know I will have to wade through the difference between peoples love and just wanting me home because they love me and what really God is saying and what is best for me…even if its hard, even if its scary… God says to loose your life than you will find it and find it to the fullest. That’s encouraging to me and when I focus on that I don’t get so scared, because I know He cares so much more.

so because of my whole visa issue, my visas expires feb. 21st and i need to travel or give the gov't $1000 (after talking with the commissioner the law has yet to change for missionaries, she is hoping the fee to lower soon)...i opted for the travel since i only have 3-4 months left here and when i come back into the country they can offer me a 3-month visator pass (pray that is what they give me :) ... but i don't expect any problems ) ... so i got an opportunity to fly to capetown and spend time with floyd mcclung's people (he himself will not be there, but his wife and the all nations staff are housing me). so i am praying for some confirmatijon on where to step next during this time in cape town ... i am going to try and finish up my song of songs teaching, as i have been asked to take it to one of the buvuma islands, (I am not sure which one) the first week of march and then i will come back and teach at lingira and possibly Kyoya.

okay well i really love you all. thanks for continuing to stand with me....
mandy

back in the swing...

I am putting up two posts today. Please don't miss my Post below on my friend Adam after reading this one. thank you!

So I am back in the swing of ‘school’ again, although it has not technically started yet. We have been busy getting the school ready, trying to encourage the builders to build the hostels well but quickly, getting all of the papers ready for registration of new students, encouraging our Senior 4 Candidate Class which has come early to study hard because they have their big examination at the end of this year, creating next years time-table, and so much. We are so fortunate to have such great teachers returning, four of which have already come back… two to teach, one because he just loves the school and another to help with some administration work around the school. We currently have money for three hostels but are lacking enough for all four. Hopefully the photo I want to show you of the hostels uploads, but sometimes those things are so so stubborn!!! Computers here are always a joy! I uploaded a picture of Pastor Waboka mudding the new hostels!

We are looking for various supporters of the school…. Whether big or small…. We need to get bunk beds for the students, so they are not putting a mattress on the mudd floor of the mudd hutt hostel. We are looking to build a fence around the school compound not only for security but to keep the animals out so we can actually grow a garden and all the veggies will not get eaten! We are looking for monthly supporters for school upkeep. You may be thinking shouldn’t the school tuition be covering all of these costs, but it doesn’t even come close to covering all of these costs. The islands are a very very poor community and they lack even the $3 to send their kids to primary (elementary) school most times. So we are trying to make the fee’s as affordable as possible but they are still high for them. I think about the scripture from Hosea 4:6… “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” I don’t want to see that happen at the islands so I am seeking out ways to see to it that this small island school will be lasting!

So February is quickly approaching. And I am excited to say I have church family coming over! I can’t wait to see them and to host them here in Uganda! And I am excited for all of you that sent goodies with them for me J I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me! I love suprises! Then at the end of February I have to travel (take a short trip across the boarder, again to renew my visa). This will be a very short excursion as I am really missing the islands. Please pray for safe travels for me as I go. So February will fly by and March will be here, and come march I will only have 3-4months left and I will be home! I can’t believe it. Thinking about coming home is bitter sweet. I miss home, I miss my family, my friends, my hot showers, concerts on the square, the badgers, the lakes of Madison. But then there is so much here I love too. The people and the work I am doing. I really don’t know what next year will bring, I am seeking God’s direction for that. Only time will tell! Well I love you and have to run.

Adam Langford

So today I attended my friend Adam’s Memorial service at the Source Café. I wanted to post his last blog on suffering because I thought it was moving and appropriate to blog myself. Please checkout his other blogs on life in Africa. He does a really good job at explaining life here in Uganda. http://www.jinjamissions.org/. Look for my other thoughts after his blog...Adam Langford's last blog:

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
- Mahatma Gandhi

Uganda has problems. I am not sure of the politically correct term these days: Developing Nation, 3rd World Country, or Emerging State , so I will just say that Uganda is defiantly not one of the more advanced countries in the world. I don’t believe they are at the bottom of the list, but they are no where near the top. This was quickly evident to me when I ventured here 10 months ago from my home in America . From the time I stepped foot into Uganda I saw the effects and the causes of a country that appears to have gotten the short end of the stick in this new global community: misplaced populations, poor infrastructure, little education, few hospitals, corrupt government, and a culture that doesn’t quite fit with the ever expanding Western way of doing things. The longer I am here, the more problems I seem to find.

Like any educated Westerner, I immediately start looking for solutions to all of these problems. I quickly learn though that quick solutions don’t often work, in fact they usually cause more problems. So, I search for sustainable answers, but all I have come up with so far are more questions. Uganda has big problems.

For the past couple of months I have found myself engaged in a conversation with several different people from different walks of life, “How do we help Uganda?” Over the past several years the affluent parts of the world have also been engaged in that same conversation. Aid organizations, churches, non-profits, governments, the UN, Bill Gates, and even U2’s Bono have been vigorously working to put an end to poverty and all the problems that go with it in places like Uganda. I am very glad this collective group of intelligent, well funded people is focusing on the problems here, because for the life of me I can’t figure them out. Living in the midst of all these problems with no solutions is difficult. I am constantly faced with the immense suffering. Yesterday I had a church member plead with me for a job because as he said, “My family is dying Adam, you have to help me.” While this was a bit of a overdramatic plea to get an emotion response from me, it is really not that far from the truth. I didn’t have any work for him; he will have to suffer through it.

I have endured quite a bit of suffering myself in the last couple of months due to the problems of Uganda. While Ugandan’s themselves are amused at my perceived problems, they are very real for me. Last month I had no electricity in my house for 26 straight days. It came back on day 27 only to go off again for another 3 days. For all of you who are romanticizing this simplified life by thinking how great it would be to read all of those books you’ve been meaning too next to the soft glow of lantern light, try taking freezing cold showers for a month; that should you bring you back to reality. During this time, while I was trying to figure out what the problem was, I uncovered that my landlord has been stealing electricity from me. This was topped off by four days of no water right at the end of my 30 day electricity fast, which was a nice break from the cold showers. I have been able to fix my relatively trite problems for the mean time, but because this place is what it is I am confident they will be back. Uganda has problems and I am suffering because of them.

In September I visited a close by village with two visitors from America who were in town for a few days. Our time in Kyabirawa was shaping up to be a pretty normal day in the village. We took a tour of a garden, we greeted some of the neighbors, and we shared a meal. After we ate, our host Maanda Wilson told us that one of the elder church members had recently lost his youngest daughter and people were gathering for the burial. We agreed to go over and give our condolences to the family and view the body. Just as in America, it is customary to view the body of the deceased as part of the ritual of saying goodbye. In Uganda, they don’t have funeral homes that are able to present the body in a manor that reflects the living person. The 33 year old women that we saw looked dead. It was a disturbing site. Her older sister was holding back the sheet that covered her lifeless body. I asked her, “How did your sister die?” The older sister stared at me for a moment and then shook her head with a disgusted, frustrated look on her face. “Don’t you know?” she said in an exhausted gasp. I thought I had messed up. I didn’t think that question was inappropriate, but this lady was obviously disturbed. “She died of AIDS! Like everyone else around here, she died of AIDS.” Her voice cracked and a she started to tear up. I softly said “nga kitalo” which is a Lusoga word of lament that is solely used in the midst of death, it literally translates ‘oh no!’ I had nothing else to say. Uganda has problems and its people are suffering to the point of death.

My illusions of solving the problems of this country have long ago left me. They have been replaced with the hope of a risen savior who understands what it means to suffer in this world. This world refuses to work on God’s terms and thus will always be filled with suffering. And because I live in this world, I am privy to that suffering rather I am living in America or Uganda. While I will never stop trying to eliminate the suffering in this world, the suffering in Uganda, the suffering in losing a younger sister to AIDs, or even the suffering in my own life, I do not believe that is all I should be doing. Solutions are wonderful. Cures are amazing. Answers are great. But in this broken world, I am beginning to believe we need more people who are willing to enter into the suffering of others whether they can help or not. I want to choose to suffering for the sake of others. I am not always sure how to do that or what it looks like, but most days I wake up and can’t think of anything else to do. Uganda has problems, I pray that God will solve them, but until He does I will also pray for the strength to suffer.

Suffering cheerfully endured, ceases to be suffering and is transmuted into an ineffable joy. -- Mahatma Gandhi

During the service we all sang a song that really touched my heart. I could feel God’s presence (like when people all come together to sing Amazing Grace) as we all sang out, so I wrote the words: “What a friend we have in Jesus; all our sins and grief’s to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! Oh what peace we often forfeit, o what needless pain we bear, all because we don not carry everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer; can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge –take it to the Lord in prayer; do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer; in His arms He’ll take and shield thee; thou will find a solace there.”

A woman stood up that was Adam’s neighbor. She explained how Adam really lived his life loving the Lord. He wasn’t a big preacher man but he was a man of his action. And because of the actions that portrayed the love of Christ, she gave her life to Christ. The bible talks about in John 3:7 that you must be born again. I used to have a really hard time with that term because I thought it sounded hyper religious, but it is so true. At some point in our life we either choose to surrender our life to the Lord or we continue on with our own ways. I pray that all those I know and love surrender their life to the Lord. Who else can we put our hope in?

In a moment...

…in a moment our life can be gone. Today was one of the surprises you never want. I was walking down main street on my way back to the computer to print out some documents for the secondary school, when I realized my favorite ‘coffee shop’ was closed, the source cafe. I stood starring at the signs at the door for I don’t know how long. I got lost at what I read and saw. My friend Adam, from Oregon who is giving three years to work at this café had just died the night before in an accident. The funeral was at 4pm. I stood. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to cry, my eyes got big and heavy. I was in shock. Adam, 28… great man, funny, never took himself to serious, loved God … gave me a ride on his motorcycle… was my first ‘muzungu’ friend when I first came and was sick for the first time…. Godfrey another friend that works at the source introduced Adam to me as a doctor… I will never understand. This is the first time I got an overwhelming sense of home sickness. For a moment I thought I don’t want to be here. I don’t know where I wanted to be, but just not here. I just got back from the funeral about 30-minutes ago. They talked about the accident. The vehicle Adam was in had gotten a flat tire and the driver was loosing control. Adam jumped out trying to escape and died instantly. The two other men in the vehicle, one died and the other is still in critical condition. The other man that died, I knew him also although not as well. His name is Moses. He was the manager of the source. He is leaving behind his wife and three kids…. All, also acquaintances from the source café. To make matters worse, when the crash happened locals that saw the crash started stealing all the things that got scattered, including stripping all the men naked and taking their clothes….instead of helping them. I don’t understand this, I never will. Please pray for Adam’s family in Oregon. Also for Spencer and Emily and all the source café missionaries (I think there are three families here). Jess was also a good friend to Adam. I think we are both coping okay and we will be fine. Its just hard. Okay, well I don’t know what else to say. Please know that really I am fine, it is one of those times to just draw close to the presence of God and just rest there for some time.