Ugandan Food

Here is my white hand.....I'm stirring the mixture of various spices and beef that was added to the brown rice. No, we don't cook in this large sauce pan all the time. This particular day Rogers (my oldest brother) and I were cooking for the family plus several ladies and their families. Yes, the sauce pan on bricks over a fire of either wood or charcoal is the way we always do it.
For all of you who were wondering what I eat, this plate is my supper one night and is pretty typical: rice, bean soup, sweet potatoes, and matooke (looks kinda like the sweet potatoes in the pictures). Soooo good!! :)
By the way, the cell phone is mine. All the USP students get one upon arriving for safety reasons.

Jinja Visit

at the edge of Lake Victoria

This past weekend, all the USP students who are in the Inter-cultural Ministry and Missions Emphasis (IMME) went to Jinja. Yes, you should take a minute to look up its location online.

On Saturday afternoon, one of the missionaries we met with gave us an unique tour of the town. At each place we were asked to think about a question. (I didn't write them down at the time, so I will give the questions I pondered which came from what he asked us.)
1. We saw the source of the Nile River, were it comes out of Lake Victoria. because of the dam just a few kilometers down river, this once distinct site is now just a small rapid on the surface. The monument where John Hanning Speke first saw it was just across from us. Where did I come from? Where am I going?
2. Visited a very poor fishermen's village next to a high society sailboat club right on the Lake. Who did Jesus associate with? Who are we to serve?
3. The area around Bell Ave was once called "the Hollywood of Africa" back when the many wealthy Indian people lived there. We stood beside a Hindu temple and looked at all the run-down, large mansions that once housed one family and now hold 15 to 20 families paying rent to Indians who live out of the country and have bank accounts in the UK. Am I living for a title or for a testimony? Do I want to be the wealthy or the lasting witness?
4. Next, we stopped at what the missionaries call "ting-ting." This is one factory where sheet metal is shaped into anything useful you can think of and the hammers on the metal constantly cause the ting-tink-ting sound. Bobby, the missionary, talked to several of the men briefly and a few even spoke a little English. How can we relate? How can we reach them?
5. Jinja Hospital was our last stop. We split up into small groups and went to different wards. We went in not just to see, but also to pray with some of the people there. Although this hospital is ranked 2nd or 3rd in the nation, it is very under staffed and supplied. What hope can I give? Why am I not one destined to such a place?

This is a very short summary of the trip. So much I learned and now have to think about. Please, if you want to know more, write yourself a note to ask about it when I see you next. Or if you want to know something specific, feel free to email me.

University in Uganda

I'm here! I am quite safe, excluding the crazy buda-buda drivers who pass me between school and home. :) They are a type of motorcycle for transportation hire. Pedestrians are on the bottom of the traffic hierarchy.
I'm very thrilled to be alive!! Africa is wonderful! Classes are fascinating! Other students are fun! I enjoy eating mutoko and popope everyday! Fruit here is spectacular! My Mom loves Jesus very much! My brothers patiently teach me Luganda! My sister and I sat for nearly an hour last night taking turns reading chapters out of the Bible to each other! Squatting beside a basin to bathe is much quicker than showering in the States, not to mention saves much water. (one learns to preserve when you can anyhow.....the well is about 2 km away at the bottom of a steep hill) I don't really understand why everyone likes to drink boiling hot tea three times a day when the air is already making you sweat.....

Beginning an Adventure

I'm beginning the travel to Uganda today. I'm so very excited!! and rather nervous too. Please, pray all the connections go smoothly, flying proceeds safely, and everyone in the group arrives there healthily. Out of Dallas tonight, we are to arrive in Entebbe International about 10:30pm their time (which would be 1:30EST) on Friday.
Being in the hurry-up-and-wait mode already, I'm having difficulty coming up with something worth saying.....as I sit here waiting on the last load of laundry done in the States for 6 months and not in a bucket. I've been back around LeTU since Sunday night repacking and bidding all (of those I have successfully found) my friends and good acquaintances here farewell. Due to the limited and slow and unreliable internet access where I shall be, I hope to continue blogging and updating as usual, but please, don't be alarmed if I am unable to do so.

All your prayers are greatly appreciated. God bless you all!!

An 8 Wonder of Kansas

We went to the Underground Salt Museum this afternoon. Very cool! okay so, actually the constant underground temperature is 68 degrees and a humidity of about 41%. If you want to know more, check out their website: http://www.undergroundmuseum.org/index.php
Just the homepage slide show gives a pretty good idea what it's about. They also store a bunch of stuff for the Underground Vaults and Storage in another part of the mine. On the website (http://undergroundvaults.com/) all the boxes on shelves would be in places like this salt mine. If you are ever touring the country near Hutchinson, KS, I would highly recommend seeing this.

Merry CHRISTmas!!!

God sent His Son to us. God incarnate. Jesus was 100% man and 100% God. Jesus truly was Emmanuel: "God with us." The advent sermons where I have been attending here in Hutch have been based on this passage:

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6 (NASB)

For those, who like me, are fans of Handel's Messiah, this verse immediately brings to mind a particular tune. But, stop......think.....reread those words by the prophet Isaiah. Who was He? Who is He?

Several years ago, while I was in high school youth group, our youth pastor asked us to think about what the best gift we had ever received was. He gave a few minutes to think about it. Then, when he asked us to share what that gift was with the group, I squirmed a bit in my chair (silly thing was too big for me...yes, I am that short), so he looked at me and told me to go first. I simply said, "The best gift I have ever received was forgiveness." Referring to the gift Jesus gave me when He came to earth, lived as a man, taught His disciples, was killed, rose again!, and now is in heaven preparing a place in heaven for all who truly believe in and live for Him.

What was the best gift you ever received? Did you give anything in return? I cannot repay the debt of love I owe, but I have given what I could: my whole self. Even with all my failings, that is exactly what God wants in return.
What hope, joy, peace, and love we can experience from truly knowing Him!!

Back in Kansas!

Well, I'm back in Kansas for the Christmas break. I finished finals last Wednesday, worked all day Thursday, hung out and made dinner for friends on Friday, then ushered for fall graduation on Saturday, and got here before too late Saturday night. Oh, and I will be able to post pictures when I go to Uganda next semester (as well as now) because the wonderful Sarah let me borrow her digital camera (which she says she doesn't use anymore) to take as I go world trotting! So, here is the first picture I've used it to take:
my room at the Hawthorne's. ^_^

I am so very much exceedingly blessed!! Even in the tough times, I know God gives me exactly what I need. Right now, though, I've more than than enough. How could I ask for more comfort, joy, rest, etc. God has once more proved to me His desire for my delight in Him, whether the delight comes from watching the little birds outside my window, eating warm home-made food, laughing with friends (who are like family to me), or simply sleeping in a very comfortable bed for as long as I like. :)

Why is God so good to me? Why does He pour so much grace into my life? I can't begin to imagine th depth, height, and width of God's love for me. I once more stop in amazement.

So Much

The past week has been rather crazy, but very fun (for the most part). I just got back to the house about 30 minutes ago from Hutchinson, Kansas.
~1060 miles.
21 college/just post-college kids.
2 adopted parents.
1 house.
3 days.
so much fun!! ^_^
not enough sleep....


and I'm 21 now....
(do I really have to be responsible now?)

research

For all of you who don't know: I do not like to write papers. I like researching, finding new things, discovering different perspectives, and learning of connections between things. But I don't like writing papers....at all. So, you ask, how can I stand to write all the time? That, Watson, is an excellent question. Only by God's grace can I be in this major, where writing papers, reports, reflections, etc are a extremely common thing.
Back to the point....I just read and took notes on portions from two rather fascinating books: The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam and Encyclopedia of Hinduism. I like encyclopedias, they tell you what you what to know and make you curious about other things you didn't know you wanted to know, without adding tons of other information or wordiness to get in the way of the point. ^_^ I guess that is why i like dictionaries too.
Yep, I'm a nerd. hehehe....

Dedicated to Benjamin

I wrote a research paper this past weekend/week for my Church History class on John Knox and the Scottish Reformation. I wanted to do something I knew a little something about already, while the assignment required the paper be on a "major turning point in the history of Christianity." Thank you my older brother, Benjamin! You talked Scottish history enough I found out I actually learned something after all this time! Yes, I listened to many of his monologues on the history he was so fascinated with for so long. YaY, for having a family who liked learning so much as to make it a pass time, and I just listened and learned without putting forth any effort. WoW......so, I was like a nerd from the beginning....and didn't even realize it.....of course then I was also born a Francis.....yes, this is you reading my train of thought...while I sit here in a room on my brother floor listening to them plan their class schedules for next semester. I&M lab.... dynamics.... engineering design technology..... engineering project management.... crazy engineers!
Yes, I have grown up around nerds of some sort all my life. I so far prefer to hear them argue over whether C++ or Java is better, discuss the inter-workings of the muscles in a human knee, or explain the proof to why a straight line is in fact the shortest distance between two points than put up with the giggly small talk of girls with boyfriends......I like it when guys will just be your friend or adopted brother for the duration of college. For any guy who falls in that category, Thank you!
Okay, so I'm going to stop now...this blog is long enough..... ^_^