Camp week 4

Sunday morning it was off to Retract Uganda to speak to the boys there. Since I was not going to be there on Christmas I gave a message on it. We had the boys act out the story as we read it. We had 6 angels, 10 shepherds, which turned into 5 shepherds and 5 sheep as we went along, 4 Marys, 2 Josephs, and 2 who played baby Jesus. It was quite funny as we went along. We talked about having Jesus come to life in our life each day. After finishing at Retract I met up with the others at church. We had a chance be at home before the bus picked us up and got the boys on the way to Buyobe. The ride takes close to 2 hours. When we got there we unloaded and set up as was the usual routine now. The boys had noticed that there was a nice soccer field down the road so most of the boys went to go play. Ryan, Katie, and I decided we would go for a walk down the road in the opposite direction. Our fan club of 4 kids went with us arguing over which hand they would hold. Buyobe is a poorer community but everyone takes pride in their home. We really could learn a lot from this. Although the house is made of dirt and the yard is dirt it is swept, pick up, and kept “clean” at least twice a day. As we walked along, I saw several kids playing cards who stopped to stare and laugh at me as I walked by. I decided that I should go and play cards with them. They thought this was great as did the adults who were watching from the porch. I played about three games with them, and as I left we all laughed. Guess that happens when you are filled with the joy of the Lord. – Now this may not be a fair comparison at all, so I am careful in making it. People in the villages rarely see white people and have a very inflated opinion of them. They yell for their kids to come see you and to even touch you as if you are someone special. I imagine people treated Jesus in much the same way. Now seeing people on the road and walking up to them to talk or touch them makes their day. It brings out these amazing smiles from them and from me. People were always coming to Jesus. I imagine he had a lot of fun walking along and making them smile.

Monday morning the kids were slow in arriving. At 9:30 we decided to start and split into three groups and then have everyone join me at the end for games. Well by the time we got to chapel we had 110. We did decide to continue doing the schedule with games coming first each day and one group having the day off to help others. After we finished many of the kids stayed around to play and just hang out, Some of this is because the community well is right in front of the school. That afternoon we walked down the road to go play soccer. The game drew quite a large crowd of people from this next village. People were smiling and yelling to all of us as we started the walk back. I found out later that the boys had arranged a game for Wednesday afternoon with the community team. I knew this was going to be a big deal for everyone. Earlier in the afternoon I had the time to talk to some of the boys and that conversation had moved into girls and sex. We had been questioning whether or not to have an organized talk with the boys about this. The girls had gotten into similar conversations that day. So, that night I told the boys that Tuesday I would talk with them about anything they wanted to know about sex and answer their questions. Oh Boy! Monday also gave me time to hang out with Phillip. Phillip has autism. He always hangs around the school and usually gets picked on by everyone. My experiences at Camp Barnabas have prepared me for these interactions and have given me knowledge and a heart for people with special needs. I called him away from everybody and just gave him the opportunity to sit and take it easy with someone loving on him. Katie started playing a song so we sung to him which relaxed him and he just smiled a smile from God as he held my hand. That night Katie and I addressed the boys about what was up with Phillip and why he acted the way he did. The problem is that no one here understands that and so they treat him horribly. Truthfully, people in the US understand something is wrong, but still treat people mean who have special needs because they are scared and don’t understand.

Tuesday went by pretty smoothly. The kids were having a blast and were very friendly. This week I decided that I would do singing during my class and try to teach Jesus Loves Me. The first day I had 30 or so 4 and 5 year olds. I decided to teach the first part in English, cut it in half, and do the chorus in Lugandan. It worked for the most part. That afternoon we got the boys to together to have the sex talk. I thought it went well. After I finished we called the girls in so they could ask them questions and hear a girls prospective. They had a lot of questions for them. One thing that was great to see on this day was how different the boys treated Phillip. They were inviting him over and teaching him things. You could tell the kids were looking at them weird for doing it. That evening we again made the trek to the soccer field for a game. I think there were even more people from the community that day and I knew there would be a lot tomorrow for the game.

Wednesday morning Katie and I got up and ran the road. It is quite cool here in the morning. 60’s for sure. We headed in the opposite direction that we normally walked. Again it is funny to be running along and have people see you, and then yell for everyone to come out and look. What is more startling is when you are a long way from the school and someone calls you by name and says hello. It is very humbling. The day at camp went by smooth. Around 80 prayed with John Paul when he gave them the opportunity to accept Christ. I like letting him be the one to finish up and make that invitation. I can tell that God has gifted him with speaking and I sat him down this week and told him that. His response was simply, “Well glory to God then!” Right on! Again we praise God knowing he knows what is going on in that room when we pray and it’s just up to us to be faithful. It had been another hot day as if someone had turned the temperature up another 10 degrees. Most of us just hid in the coolest spot we could find and took a nap. We had to drag the boys down the road for the game which is a real surprise since they always want to play. When we got there the community was a no show. We waited as they got on their phones and bodas to go and pick people up. About an hour later their uniforms and coach arrived so we could start. These games are very serious and quite dangerous. There is not a good referee and it’s more like streetball with spikes on. No fouls just craziness. At halftime it was 2-0 in favor of the home team. There had now formed quite a crowd. Several of the people from Buyobe had ridden the bus down with us and others had walked. As the second half got underway and the game became more intense the crowds were yelling at each other. When the final whistle blew it was 3-2 Abaana. The boys yelled and ran around. They started wearing these huge smiles and even the locals clapped for them. Some of the people asked if we would be here for Christmas. We told them that we wouldn’t and would have to leave. They said that the whole community would miss us. I don’t think the guys on the team will miss us, but maybe we gave the community something to do each day, so I could see that. As we got on the bus to drive back to Buyobe the boys were cheering and hanging out the window yelling. The locals from Buyobe who were on the bus were chanting the whole was back. I had the chance to play sports all my life and I remember when we played away games against our rivals. I always loved the rides back because you felt like kings of the world. These boys had not had the chance to do that. This was their king moment. They would have never thought a few years back living on the street that they could have this. There smiles showed the joy. As I sat there and listened and watched, I thought about how God had pulled them out of such horrible circumstances. For four weeks we had worked with them and helped them lead. They had grown so much and learned so much. Now here was a reward for their efforts. Even as tired as I was I couldn’t help but smile and wave to the people on the road cheering as we drove by.

Thursday may have been the smoothest day of four weeks of camp. Guess that’s what happens when you have all this practice. It was tough saying good bye to Phillip. The boys were sad to say good bye to. I think they understand now. The way they treated him later in the week was noticed by the kids too, and no one was making fun of him when we left. Sometimes it takes someone special to help us realize things about ourselves and I think Phillip’s smile did that for them. Some of the boys even gave him some of their stuff.

4 weeks have come and gone. There have been many moments that I still can’t describe on paper. There are things forgot to write. I may never know the impact we made on the communities. Each week as we leave we are told it’s a lot. God knows, and I think he is smiling. I have learned more about Ugandan culture and ways of life. I have had so many meaningful conversations with the boys. I have tried to pour myself into them through my words and my example. I will miss having them around to ask questions of me and make me smile at the crazy things they do. I won’t miss their snoring or texting during the middle of the night. I thank God for the opportunities we has had. I know 12 Ugandan and 4 American lives are different, and that makes it worth it.

An Early Christmas Present

It was Sunday afternoon during the third week of camp here in Uganda. We had already gotten settled in the school at Lweza, our place to sleep for the week. I had learned in previous weeks to explore and meet people in the villages or just along the dirt paths that lead through the bush. So, I yelled at one of the boys to come with me so I would have an interpreter if I needed one. The path led alongside fields of cassava, potatoes, and maize. As those fields became less cultivated, we ran into two little girls. They were both excited to see me and were not shy at all. The little one, Christine, who was probably age 6 ran and immediately grabbed my hand, looked up into my eyes, and smiled. The older one, named Mariah, bowed and told us that the path led to their house. Both of the girls attended Lweza. Mariah invited us to keep walking to their house. I didn’t really want to go into someone’s house or feel like I was intruding, but this is Uganda. They don’t see things as an interruption and welcome visits from strangers. So we went with them until the path ended at a small mud brick house. I was surprised as we walked up to see two of the other boys from the New Life Homes already sitting in the grass. They were talking to an old man who was sitting on the steps to the house. When the man saw me, his face lit up and he quickly invited me to come over. I started to sit on the ground, which he thought was crazy. He offered me a seat but I assured him the ground was fine. He wanted to know why I was there and that he was honored to have me at his house. I listened as he talked with the boys about his land and what not. The girls disappeared into the shed/kitchen to work on dinner. The old man had a real light about him. The age expectancy here is 60 and he was obviously older than that. The blue light in his eyes shone out and the smile even with a couple of gaps was beautiful. As he stood to greet me he hunched over on his cane. When he straightened up he is probably 5’2. He reminded me of a smurf, minus the blue stuff and the hat. He offered us some of his jackfruit. It was a generous gesture considering how little they had. As we got up to leave, we thanked him for the jackfruit. He asked if I would come back sometime, and I told him I would on one condition. I told him I wanted to hear his life’s story. His smile grew even larger as we set up a time to get together the next day. As we walked off all the boys who were there could not help but comment on how nice the man had been.
Monday afternoon I grabbed a shower, well more like a water pouring, changed clothes after the football match, grabbed a notebook, grabbed a boy, Vincent, to translate, and made the walk over. I was really excited to get to hear his story. To this point all the stories had been with kids from the street or formerly from the street. I wanted to hear from someone older and from the village. As we arrived the vet was there vaccinating his cows, so we waited and talked to the girls. I asked Christine what she did around the house to help. She told me how her jobs were to wash dishes, sweep, help dig for potatoes, and sometimes they would send her to buy stuff at the road. By the time we finished our conversation with her, the old man had returned. He invited us to come and sit inside the house. The living room was about 8 by 8. It had two wooden couches that looked as though they might break if you sat down too quickly. On one table there was an old dial TV connected to a car battery that he said he didn’t have money to charge. The walls had old calendars and small black and white family pictures on them. Speaking of the walls, they are unfinished after about 6 feet allowing you to see into the top of the bedroom. The tin roof has a few holes in it that are seen as the light shines through them. As we looked at the pictures, he began to tell us about each one with pride. Soon, I had Vincent tell him that I really just wanted to hear about his life, and so the story began.
The man’s name was Kasumbe Jeremiah. He was born on the island in 1936. His father had spent a lot of time with him when he was younger, teaching and instilling a work ethic in him. In 1953 he started working as a conductor on the boats that carried people over from the city to the island. By 1955 he had made friends with a white man who taught him how to drive the boat and in within a year he had his license as a captain. These were the good days. Kasumbe had a job and all was well. In 58 his family bought the piece of property they own now, about 8 acres. Outside the door is a large tree whose trunk is twisted or worn. “I planted that tree when we moved to this land,” he told me. But the good times would not last.
In 1962 the level of the water in Lake Victoria went down enough that the island was an island no longer. This of course was why the area was called Mpata Island. Yet there is no such resemblance of an island today. The dropping of the water meant that boat transportation was not necessary and within a few years did not earn him very much money at all. So, in 66 he decided to head for the city to make a better living. He got a job through a connection he had with some of the Bugandan King’s friends painting houses. The Bugandans are the largest ethnic group in Uganda. As Kasumbe was getting this job tensions rose in the government and by 67 leaders were trying to literally eliminate the people. After Bugandan King Freddie died in 68, some of the militant leaders of the new government searched out anyone with a connection to him. They came looking for Kasumbe and burned houses in the area trying to find and kill him. After things died down, he got another painting job in Kampala. However, it was only two years before they shut the company down because they were donating some of their profits to the Bugandans.
From 71-86 Kasumbe worked in the city finding whatever painting job he could. During this time as he struggled to get food on the table, he and his father put into action a plan for his retirement. They spent their money on coffee, bananas, jackfruit, and cassava. They prepared the land and planted the crops in order to sell for money. However, shortly after he retired in 86 the whole coffee crop got a disease. Following the failure of the coffee, his health took a turn for the worse. In 87 he was diagnosed with high blood pressure. The pressure caused problems in his hip joints and the pain forced him to walk differently. Those factors lead to the deteriorating of his hip and the curvature of his spine. Now his back is crooked and his left leg sits almost two inches higher than his right. As I was looking at the x-rays he brought me, he kept talking about the pain he feels when walking about and how that pain lead to his inability to maintain the crops. He still continued to try going back and forth to Kampala to get odd jobs after his official retirement.
In 86 the last of his 8 children was also born. He was blessed to have 5 boys and 3 girls to three wives. One of his children has since passed away. As we continued to talk about the struggles, his face grew a little darker. He said because of the lack of money, he was never able to get pay for his children to go all the way through school and become good citizens. He felt as though he had let them down. Now, the seven remaining children live in Kampala and work “little jobs” as he says just to get by themselves and so they cannot come and help him out. In 95 they started work on the house we were sitting in. He quickly points out to me all the problems with the walls and the roof. He never could get enough money to finish the house and so he and his wife live in it as is.
Today, his health is continuing to get worse. According to his doctor the blood pressure causes urine build up. His shoulder joint now experiences pain and he can hardly move it. He says to me in the little English he knows, “I have no power anymore.” The right side of his face bleeds every day and every night. And the cataracts in his eyes are very obvious. He is a man whose temporary body is failing him. However, his spirit runs forward. In order to help one of his kids he keeps Christine, his granddaughter, but it’s the fact that Mariah is there that is more impressive. Mariah and her brother lived on the island before both of their parents died suddenly. The two children were living in the bush on the island. Kasumbe took in Mariah and helped find somewhere for her brother to live not far away. Kasumbe, a man working to survive every day and dying on the outside, provided life to this little girl. Mariah is actually one of the sponsored children through Abaana. She is intelligent and was always the first to lead worship during camp.
As we finished up the conversation, Kasumbe asked if I wanted to walk the property to see how everything had turned bad. He STILL believes that one day it will work out and he will be able to do something. He just doesn’t know how. I was hesitant to let him because I knew how much pain he was in to walk, but Vincent told me to let him. We headed out through the overgrown grass and down a path that lead by a weed filled cassava and bean field. He would point things out and say “if only” or “I’m trying to get.” As we were walking by the banana plantation enclosed with weeds above my waist, Vincent grabbed me and shaking his head said, “I thought I was the only one in the world who has had to go through such suffering. This is horrible! His whole life.” Vincent was right and hearing it from the mouth of a child who had lived on the streets was quite sobering. We walked by the coffee plants and he showed me the disease that still haunts them. Finally, we reached the edge of his land on the path we had entered the day before. It looked different now because I knew the story. My friend shook my hand and again thanked me for coming. He asked politely if I would come again, and I said, “I will see you tomorrow.”
While we had been talking my mind had been in full motion of how to help. As me and Vincent continued down the path heading to the school, I asked him if he would be interested in helping Kasumbe out. He told me he would love to. I figured I could get all 12 of the guys to come over the next afternoon and we could clear the land so he could use it again. All we needed was to track down some tools. That night around the camp fire I let Vincent tell them the story. As he was speaking in Lugandan I could see the boy’s heads shake. We asked if they would be willing to help and they all agreed. The youth minister part of me was really starting to get excited. I was pretty sure none of these former street boys had done a mission project for someone else and so this was about to be a huge learning experience about God.
The next day we asked around and were able to come up with an ax, three slashers, and two hoes. I asked Mariah that day at camp if they had any tools at the house and she told me they had several. Vincent had set up for us to visit after lunch, so as we finished up 12 former street boys, 2 Americans, one bus driver, and an uncle headed down the path to Kasumbe’s. We asked the other guys to stay back out of sight while we went in to talk. He lit up as we came walking to the house and quickly told us to come inside. Before he could start talking I told him I had something to ask. I said, “How would you like an early Christmas present?” (This was before I learned that most Ugandans don’t exchange gifts.) I told him, “After hearing your story I wanted to do something to help. So I told some of my friends and they agreed to come and clear your land so you can use it, BUT can we use some of your tools because we don’t have enough?” A large smile came over his face and he, of course, agreed. We went outside and yelled for the rest of the boys to come on. Kasumbe got us some more slashers and hoes and we got to work. The boys jumped in just like a group of excited workers. Of course they got tired like a bunch of teens too. We worked for about an hour and a half clearing the yard around the house and starting on a small garden he had to the side. While others were taking a break, they would just sit and talk with him. As we told him we would be back the next day to finish the banana plantation, he told the boys they could grab a jackfruit. He came over to thank me again, and I told him he didn’t need to thank me or any of us, but to thank God because he was the one who gives the gifts.
That night as we talked around the campfire about the week, I asked what had been their favorite thing about camp so far. Several of the boys said they had really enjoyed working. I talked that night about being a Christian and how it wasn’t about words it was about action. After we finished for the night, Peter, who is one of the boy’s two social workers and uncle, came over and said, “I love how you teach them. You give them practical ways of applying what they read in the Bible.” Isn’t that what Jesus came to do? To show us what it meant to live out the Bible.
The next afternoon was rainy, but we still went to work. Our goal was to finish clearing all the weeds from the banana plantation. We finished up and even did a little more. I wish we would have had another day to continue working because I think the boys would have loved to keep going. I turned around at one point to look back at the house. There was Kasumbe surrounded by several of the boys telling them about how it used to be an island and how he used to be a painter. A huge smile ran across his face and I couldn’t help but do the same. I asked Vincent to tell him that all of them had formerly been on the street. As soon as he said it, Kasumbe screamed and started clapping. He could not believe that these boys had turned their lives around and he was very proud. There really is something to hearing the screams of joy from people who have overcome or have prayed for such things. The people here have gone through so much struggle that stories of winning bring out their excitement. And that is what these boys are doing. They are winning. They were learning what it meant to serve even as they have been served. As we were leaving we called Kasumbe over to thank him for his hospitality. We also thanked him for being an example to us by taking in Mariah and allowing her to have a future. We only hoped that the work we had done would help his. He asked us to sign a book he had because his wife would never believe him when she got back from a trip to visit family. He wanted the names of everyone who had come and helped them.
We said goodbye and headed down the dirt path again. This time we left a little different than when we came. I think about how we often pray that when we go to church. We ask to leave a little different than when we came. Aren’t we supposed to when we encounter Christ. I know we had just been at church. The body of Christ had been present in the giving and receiving. I pray the boys will remember the experience. I pray they become servant, because that is what this whole camp thing has been about. I know I will not forget my new friend. I look forward to going back to see him before I leave. I told him I would be back. And I would bring back a copy of the picture for his wall like he asked.
May you have a Merry Christmas. May you choose2B the gift for someone else, and may you receive more than you could ever give. I KNOW I HAVE!

Camp week 3 - Lweza

My week started as it usually does, by heading out early to Kampala to speak at Retract Uganda. I had missed last week because I didn’t have a translator and I missed the guys. We continued in our lessons about Moses. Today was when Moses returned and told Pharaoh to let the people go worship and he wouldn’t. He then made them make bricks without providing the straw they needed. So we talked about making bricks, since I was pretty sure most of them had done that. We talked about crying out to God like the Israelites and God would hear. It is so fun watching them understand the stories. After church we headed out to Lweza on the bus with the NLH boys. They were very talkative. I will say the other three Americans were not in a good place as the week started, and so the trip there was not a happy time. Mallory was even feeling sick. Katie is tired and frustrated. Ryan is losing his patience with the boys, and since he likes things quiet and to himself, the weeks are hard for him. While we were on the road I had the chance to just think about who we were actually taking to camp. Sometimes I forget that these are 17 and 18 year old boys. Taking the time to think about that really helped me change my own mood and gave me a lot more patience. When we got to the school Mallory was getting worse. Katie decided that she had Malaria and needed to take her home. So the girls hopped back in the bus and left for the week.
Side note = Mallory is fine after going to the doctor and all. Katie got a chance to relax when not taking care of Mallory and so she is in a much better place as well.
I don’t know if them not being there changed a lot, but it did allow me to take charge and run things a little more like a youth trip, which put me at ease. I’m not going to lie and say that letting others make most of the decisions has been fun or even easy. In fact it has caused me some frustration since they don’t seem comfortable in that role, and it is like sleeping in my own bed too me.
Anyway, a little later I grabbed one of the boys to go with me as I wondered down the paths to see where they went. As we were walking we ran into these two girls, Mariah, and Christine. They told us that the path led to their house and that there were only three families that even lived on that side. We continued walking with them the short distance to the house. When we got there, some of the boys had already wondered over and were sitting and talking to the owner. He got real excited to see me and we began to talk.
Side Note = I am going to write a whole Blog about the experiences with Kasumbe Jeremiah. So I will leave it out of the weekly blog.
When we returned to the school things were pretty quiet and the sun was beginning to set. I had looked forward to coming to Lweza for that reason. It sits upon a hill overlooking a bay from the lake and it is a quiet spot to just let God speak. After dinner we talked a little about the expectations we had and how we were going to handle the girls not being there. Before long we were off to bed.
Day 2
We got up and got everything ready. The boys had gone to their classes and organized the rooms and put the verses on the boards. We were ready! The headmaster had told us they would have around 100 and they knew to be here at 9. So when 9 o’clock came….crickets. We didn’t have a single kid there. Slowly they started to arrive in twos and threes. By 10:30 we actually had to separate them into classes and get started with the day. The children were very excited to be there and were really good at listening. We finished on time and had about 65 when we stopped, while others were still walking up. We stressed for them to be there at 9 the next day so we could have more time. After we let them out, Ryan and I walked them down from the school to the top of the hill. Well, I walked and Ryan chased them around. The time after camp has become a favorite of mine. The kids can come over and just be kids. They will ask questions or just sit beside you and play with the hair on your arm that amazes them. Soon we had to go eat so we sent them on their way. That afternoon we relaxed after sending the boys for water. The well is at the bottom of the hill, and there is no easy way to get it to the school. We formed teams of two and made them responsible for a jerry can. This worked for about two days and then like most youth they got lazy, so it became whoever was willing to do it. Just below on the main road is the secondary school. They sit just above the water front and have a lot of field space. I told the boys we would go play soccer later and, of course, that excited them. I had to leave the game early to go visit Kasumbe Jeremiah. Vincent and I arrived back in time for dinner. That night the stars were so pretty. They are much easier to see here without all the electricity. I changed up the talk for the night and talked about stars and how big and awesome they are. They actually have never been taught about them so that made the lesson even better. We then talked about the fact that God loves us even more than those stars in the sky. Some of the boys came and grabbed me later just to tell me how cool that was. And they wanted to know how I became so smart – people have been asking me that for years :).
Day 3
The kids arrived at their own time again the next day. I asked the teacher why that was because it would be a serious source of frustration for us Americans. He told me that most of the kids were having to travel a long way to get there. In Africa when they say they are traveling a long way, it means they are traveling a long way. By 10:30 we had about 110. The boys were doing a great job leading the kids and Ryan and I walked around from class to class making sure everything was OK. The boys have really learned how to lead for the most part. It has been two and a half months since we first got here and I met them for the first time. I still remember having my first discipleship class at each school. I am not sure what I really expected from these guys. It’s hard to even know what to expect if you took 12 boys aged 17-19 in the US and made them counselors. I do know that there are not many people who expected anything from these boys. Not just for camp, but for life. They constantly thank us for believing in them and giving them the opportunity to do this. We constantly tell them to thank God because he is the one doing it. The day went by pretty fast and without any major hiccups.
After lunch we went over to Kasumbe Jeremiah’s to work. It was the first time the boys had done mission work for someone else. They looked the part of American teenagers on their first trip too. So it wasn’t long before the excitement turned into sitting. However they all wanted to come back the next day and finish the job (again, you will be able to read the whole story when I write the blog for it). When we got back to the school most of the boys took off for some fun at the bottom of the hill. I took the opportunity to just relax and think about what God was doing. I grabbed Katie’s hammock and set it up at the top of the hill overlooking the bay. It might as well have been the rocking chairs on the front porch at Lagoalinda Inn at Lake J. It was quiet and peaceful. The birds were singing and the boys and children could be heard down below playing. Off to my left some villagers were beating their beans. I couldn’t help but wonder how it was that I was lucky enough to be chosen by God to enjoy these things. I thought about the eternal impact this week would have on the boys as they learned about serving others. I also had time to think about how these camps were affecting the kids and the community. I will not ever know that answer, nor do I need too. I simply laid there and swayed back and forth with the breeze and thanked God in faith.
That night we talked about serving others as Christians and how we don’t just use our mouths to do it. I talked about my favorite passages I John 3:16-19. Peter, one of the social workers and uncles at the homes, came over to me later and said, “I love how you are teaching the boys. You are not just telling them. You are showing them and giving them practical ways to apply the Bible.” Now I had not really thought too much about that, but when he said it I became very thankful. I thanked God for thanking me through someone else and for allowing my work to have an impact.
Day 4
We were up most of the night as it poured down rain. I could tell most of them were awake. The humidity in the room kept climbing and so sleeping was not easy. The temperatures began to fall as well. In the morning the rain was still falling and it was rather cool. I was worried we wouldn’t have too many. The kids again came at their own pace and by the time we were ready for chapel, we had around 75. Wednesdays are the days we make an invitation to follow Christ, and it is my day to talk. Figuring out how to present this to each camp is quite challenging. You have to pay attention to the audience, how they have responded during the week, the age, and several other things. This week I took a little extra time in explaining everything. Chapel just seemed to have that feel. Each day we worship, have a skit, one of the Americans talk, one of the Ugandans give their testimony, and then we wrap up. Wednesdays the boys do the Ugandan version of the “Everything” or “Lifehouse” skit. It is quite good and powerful. Today it really set the stage for me. After I finished Bonnie (pronounced bunny) gave his testimony. Although it is in Lugandan I could feel the intensity and the passion in which he spoke and you could see it in the kids too. God prodded me to go even deeper afterwards. When John Paul finished up and asked for those who wanted to follow Christ to pray with Him, the majority of the room was speaking loud and clear. As I have stated before, I believe it is not worth getting caught up over the numbers or who means it and who doesn’t. That stuff is for God to know only. I JUST CELEBRATE THAT HE IS WORKING IN THEIR LIVES REGARDLESS. It was a great day in chapel. After lunch we again went over to work at Jeremiah’s. It was raining most of the time, but that kept the temperatures down. Several of the boys started conversations with him on this day and that made me happy. We finished everything we set out to do and then were on our way. It was great to see the boys smiling as we left and thankful for his appreciation. The boys did their regular routine in the afternoon. I did have the opportunity to carry water from the bottom of the hill that day. I decided to use my head, which they thought was funny. I am here to say I made it all the way with only one stop because I WAS BEING ATTACKED BY African ants. Those jokers hurt. After pulling them out of my toes, I finished up. That night I talked about Jesus washing the Disciples feet and how he came to serve. There were plenty of wows from the boys as these truths sank in. It really is a privilege to get to open the scriptures to them and explain things. We shared our favorite moments as we ate smores and roasted corn around the campfire.
Day 5
The kiddos were a little earlier on the last day. We ended up with close to 90. We had packed the bus before they arrived, which was quite a feat I might add. After we took the final picture and sent the kids on the way, we ate and squeezed ourselves in the bus. As we drove home I thought about how proud I was of the lessons the boys learned that week. I was thankful for the lessons I learned that week. I was happy that the week was soo much like a youth trip. Finally, I was curious to get back and check on Mallory and Katie.

Matthew Cardwell CONT

Day 3 – Tuesday We learned from our experiences on Monday that we would not have two sessions. Also, the head mistress had told us that if we had it in the morning most kids would not be there because they would be working at their houses doing chores. So we had told the kids to come at two every day. This being the case we had lots of time to do what we wanted each morning. Katie had asked me to go running with her and so I agreed. Fahad and Moses decided that they would go with us as well. Our goal was to run to the Lake front we could see in the distance. It was a wonderful run, kind of like running through paradise and having a tropical surrounding. We were able to run to Lweza, which is the school we would be at the next week for camp. It sits up on a hill overlooking a bay. We walked around for awhile before heading back. I decided to walk since my old man knees can’t handle it anymore. Moses was excited to walk back too. We checked out the monkeys and had a long talk about faith as we walked. When we got back, we heard a lot of shouting. A group of parents had come down and were yelling at the teachers and head mistress. Matthew Cardwell has been dealing with what they believe is demon possession for the last three months. (I wrote about this in an earlier blog if you read it) The parents were blaming the staff and the school for bringing the demons to the village. We had kept this from the boys but now it was obviously out in the open. They were nervous as they heard the discussions which they could understand and we couldn’t. Soon Pamela (head of Abaana in Uganda) showed up for the meeting with the parents. She was able to calm them down a little and sent them away to come back later when the director of the school was coming for a meeting. Demons come in many forms. We have lots of demons in the US. However, here there is much more belief in them, and what we might be able to explain as a sickness through medical knowledge, would be called a demon here. I knew that we might be faced with this and had tried to come two weeks prior to meet with the children they believed were possessed, but we were not able to make the trip. My stance in the whole thing was to see if my experience would show me anything that would lead me to believe in the demon possession they were claiming. If I did not see anything then I was not going to add to the hysteria. To this point I had not seen anything but children who were sick and that we sent to the doctor, who confirmed their illness. There were many stories of things these children were doing and things that were happening from the villagers. My question was always, “Have you seen them or have you just heard the story?” It was very clear that fear was driving so much of the problem. So many of the parents were scared. Yes I do believe that the devil was using this fear to drive the fighting that was going on, so yes I do believe there was a spiritual attack taking place. But I still wasn’t convinced of possession. The morning meeting of course caused fear among the villagers and they didn’t want their kids to come to the school, so we had about twenty showed up for camp. Just down from us the parents were meeting with the director and yelling at him for what was going on. It made for a very mentally exhausting day. The rains came as we were finishing up and stayed around for most of the afternoon. Another thing that is important here is water collection. Most children spend lots of their day walking to the well and hauling back water to the house. There is nothing fun about lunging one and maybe 2 50 pound jugs of water 15 minutes to your house when you are older. It is even worse when you might be 9,10, or 11. So when it rains, children are seen hurrying about with the cans to put them under the runoff from the roofs. To me it was a sad seen. It is pouring down rain and that is when you know parents are yelling for their kids to get out in it, get wet, and collect water. In the city and even here people run from the rain. They hide anywhere they can to stay dry, but not if you have to collect water. I thought about how in the US parents would yell at their kids if they were out in the rain, and here it was just the opposite. Well the rest of my day was spent having conversations about demons. Whether it was with the Abaana staff that had come or with the boys who were a little nervous. Each time reaffirming my faith that God was over all this and not to be afraid. We knew things were a little up in the air for camp the next day because we might not have anybody due to the meetings. So we went to bed just waiting to see. Day 4 Wednesday The morning again included a walk. This time I went with Ryan, Vincent, and the bus driver. We went the opposite direction on the main road until we came to another village. We took a seat outside a store in town and just spoke to people as they came by. It was relaxing. As the time for camp was nearing more kids were coming around which meant we were going to have camp. We ended up having around 30 that day. The kids here are dirtier than most have been. Some of that is because they are from the village and actually don’t attend the school. Truth be told though, I like it dirty. It reminds me more of God. Each day when we finish, the same twenty or so hang around. Some are older and have their sibling strapped to their back. Others are around 5 or 6 and just love to hang on your limbs. Tonight was a clear evening and we knew we were going to have a great sunset. As the evening passed on, it was such a pleasure to watch each one of us in our own element. Just being with the kids and sharing God’s love in our own way. I found myself almost crying a couple of times. A little later Katie and I were having a conversation on the porch. As she was playing her guitar, some of the kids came around. As the sun was setting it was making the rays really obvious over the hills. I was thinking, “Look at God’s love pouring down on us.” We both had the same idea of a song to sing at that moment, which was a god thing. We sang to the kids about how god has a plan for them. It was awesome. The words are written from God’s perspective. It has always reminded me of all the youth I have ever worked with. The words are Come away with me. Come away with me. It’s never too late. It’s not too late. It’s never too late for you. Cause I have a plan for you. I have a plan for you. It’s gonna wild. It’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be full of me. Open up your heart and let me in. While we were singing I made eye contact with a few of them. Even though they didn’t know what we were singing. It was an incredible moment to be singing over their lives. Being the mouth piece of God is full of these moments, and if your emotions could handle it you would want them to happen all the time. Day 5 Thursday Thursday feels weird, since we have already given the invitation to know Christ. At most camps you would just get up and leave early the next day. We, however, do another whole day. Thursday started out innocently enough. I went down to the woods for some alone time and hopefully a little monkey watching. Unfortunately the monkeys spent most their time watching me so I couldn’t get a good look at them. When I arrived back, some of the Abaana staff had arrived. Today they had come with 5pastors from across the country and two doctors. They had invited the families with a child they thought was possessed to come and have their blood tested. It was quite frustrating as none of the families showed up. Slowly some adults began to wonder in but no children. I went in with the pastors to pray with a parent who had a child that she felt was possessed. I don’t mean to make light of the praying, but I’m not sure all the shouting makes it that much more effective. When we finished another woman came in who wanted to ask for prayers. As we were praying for her, someone came in and informed us that they had a child who was attacked that morning in the other room. We finished praying and went to see the child. They took her blood first, and the doctors went off to analyze it. The doctors were here to either help the people understand this was a health problem or to rule that out. The girl just looked really tired and disoriented. The excitement had gotten the boys a little nervous. We decided we would have the last day anyway. However, we did find out that we would be staying at a different school next week for camp. So we quickly loaded all our stuff in the bus and dropped it off at the other school about ten minutes away. When we arrived back the doctors let us know that she had a severe bacterial infection but they did not have all the equipment to say exactly which one. They felt she needed to get to the hospital immediately. Unfortunately the parents weren’t as sure and wanted to think about it. They gave Abaana their number to call the next day and see what they had decided. Andrew Rant – as I stated earlier I do believe there are spiritually forces at work here, the main one being that of fear. However, since my first visit, I have believed there was something medical here. Each time the medical profession has been asked to check on someone, they have found them to have a severe sickness. But, even though the doctors have found these problems, the villagers are reluctant to believe them or to get answers by checking into it further. It is very frustrating. OK, so when camp time arrived we actually had a few more than the day before with about 35. We were able to relax and have an extremely fun day. We gave tshirts to everyone who could say the theme verse by memory and there were about 30 of them who could with a little help ;). We took a picture and headed for the bus. As we were leaving I kept seeing Martin, a little boy whose foot had been infected the day were got there. He had been very sad and it hurt to walk. Most of us at some point had helped him in some way during the week. Through the good work of nurse Katie his foot was doing soooooo much better when we left. He could not keep from smiling. We left having been through an extremely tiring emotional and physical week. But it was worth it.

Camp Week 2 Matthew Cardwell part1

Well the second week started much the same as the first. It was raining. However, the rest of the weeks we are doing camp require that we camp at the school. So, Sunday morning we had all our camping stuff packed and waiting for the bus to come and load up before it picked up the boys and dropped them off with us at Calvary for church. As me and Ryan were getting the drums out of the container the skies really opened up and there was no way to stay dry. As you may remember, the roads are mainly dirt. Therefore not only is it hard to travel, but most of the transportation stops. Ryan and I had to make the 25 minute walk from the house to the road in the pouring rain instead of being able to get a ride. Once we got to the church my clothes were useless. I was dripping water everywhere. Of course it happened to be a cold day and the wind was blowing. So, sitting near the window during church was awful. I froze the whole service. After the service the Americans and the boys all caught taxis to the boat landing where we would catch a ride over to Mpata. The skies were very threatening. Almost as threatening as the wood boats we ride in. Each one I have ever been in has its own bucket for bailing water. Sometimes you can even watch it come in through the bottom. The john boat engine used to get them across the water can speed you at maybe 15 to 20 miles an hour before overheating. This was the first time that several of the boys had ever been in a boat. That actually made it quite funny. There was a lot of yelling back and forth between boats, giggling, smiling, and a few looks of terror as we got started. Watching them grab everything that was floating in the water and showing it to the other boat was great, but my favorite moment came when we landed. They just run the boats up on the shore and since they are not used to riding in boats none of them knew there was about to be an abrupt stop. As soon as we hit the sand everyone one of them fell out of their seats and into the bottom of the boat filled with water. The good thing was they got up and just laughed. We grabbed bodas for everyone because the bus had gotten stuck on the way and could not meet us to carry us to the school. I was actually happy about this because this is my favorite ride I ever get to take. The dirt road is fairly smooth and the drivers enjoy going fast. The scenery is awesome, so I just love it. I was excited for everyone to see the school because I was the only one who had ever visited. I had warned them that they would love it. I was right. There were a lot of wows at the scenery and how nice it was going to be.
After the head mistress had given us a tour we decided to go to see the well. It was a little ways off down a path into the bush. At this point I didn’t realize that I would be making this walk to get water every day. When we got there I saw another path going farther into the bush so I decided to take it. It wondered into more of a forested area. After I waited awhile some of the boys joined me and we followed the path. We saw monkeys and a ton of butterflies. I was loving it. Here we were 5 minutes walk from the school and feeling like we were in the middle of the jungle. The path led us back to the road and right up to the school. When I got back some of the kids who live beside the school had made their way over as everyone laid around and waited for the bus to arrive with our stuff. I was in the mood for exploring. Katie, Fahad, and Michael joined me on a walk up the road in the other direction because I wanted to see the villages. It was a wonderful walk. Not just the scenery, the people we talked to, or the weather, but it was a great chance for Katie and I to talk with the two boys. We spoke to almost every person who was outside their houses. At this point I have been here long enough that I don’t notice too much about the conditions people live in. Mostly people live in a mud brick house that is very simple. When we reached about the 10th house a mother was outside with her two children. I immediately noticed that the girl had special needs. She waddled over to touch the white people like her mother told her. We told her about camp at the school and she said that students and made fun of her daughter there. We assured her that it wouldn’t happen this week if she brought her, and she agreed to see us the next day. I was so excited to possibly have a child with special needs coming. Yeah it’s mostly due to Camp Barnabas and working with Lucy and Moses in Sierra Leone. As we walked on it was funny to see peoples reaction to us, since not as many people in the villages have seen white people. Yes we scarred our far share of babies. It always makes me feel bad when they look at us and are terrified and start to cry, but it is also quite funny and I find myself laughing with the other members of the family. We did run into a child with a disease that I can’t pronounce or spell and since Katie is not right here to tell me I will leave it at that. I will say it was the first time Katie had seen it and I had not seen it since Sierra Leone but not this severe. He didn’t have long to live. We also saw several other medical problems that seemed to be more prominent in the village. Still it was a great walk. When we got back, the bus had arrived and everything was being unpacked. The boys laid out the rooms and hung up the mosquito nets.
That evening as we were waiting for dinner to finish, I paused and looked around. In the field some of the boys were playing. Mallory was lying under a tree having a conversation with a couple of the NLH boys. Katie was playing her guitar and worshipping. Ryan was playing with some local kids or at least chasing them. I was getting the chance to watch the sunset and enjoy watching Gods world at peace. It was a great way to close out and unbelievable afternoon. It was probably the best 7 hour stretch I have had since being in Uganda. As I watched everything and enjoyed Gods presence I thought about how so many people in the US would be so jealous of where we were and what we were doing. It really is like living in a story book. As we went in to the lantern lit classroom that had become our cafeteria, we said goodbye to our dusty, torn clothed, smiling friends for the night. Dinner was awesome and considering the majority of meals after that would be beans and posha, I was thankful. Days like this are hard to describe to people. You feel God’s presence in everything around you and you know he is there. Sometimes it’s so thick you feel you need a cloth to wipe it from your face. Yet it wasn’t the only time this week to feel that way. Thus ends day one.
Day two began nice and early. I can’t tell you what time it was cuz I don’t have a watch, but I think most of the boys get moving by 6. I wasn’t ready to get up, but those guys are loud. I learned that water needed to be fetched so I joined some in getting it. They of course made their surprised high pitched noise that I would do any work. Side Note – Ugandans have this sense that Americans can’t do any manual labor of any sort and are surprised anytime we go about doing something. While carrying the water back I figured out why Ugandans shoulders are so built and why their abs are so tight. I usually don’t see them doing anything to get these chiseled bodies, but I learned that carrying water is a workout! Sunday, when I was talking to the head mistress, I got the feeling that the kids had not been told about camp and we wouldn’t have anybody show up. When 9 came I found out I was right. We had talked about this the previous night so we were ready. At 10 we all headed out on the path that we had walked the day before to stop and invite every kid to come at 2 for camp. It was great watching the boys engage everyone in conversations and invite them. After we reached our quota the boys wanted to know if they could just evangelize to everyone. That is a question you don’t get in the US –Can we please talked to them about God? We gave them permission to do as they felt. It is s great watching them fearlessly share their faith. After lunch we got ready for camp. We had about 60 show up including the mother of the child with special needs. I walked out to take her from her but she wouldn’t leave her. So I asked if I could see her and the girl really wanted to so her Mom put her down. She has trouble walking but is really doing quite well. Unfortunatley since they don’t understand special needs she just thinks her child is dumb and that is what some of the other mothers said as we were there. It is simply heartbreaking. I chose to focus on the girl though. I grabbed her hands and started leading her in walking. She loved it. We wore a path out on the sidewalk. I got tired long before she did. It was hard to give her back because it was clear that if someone worked with her that she would probably walk fine, but instead they don’t understand. Her mother kept asking her if she was tired and as soon as I finished she picked her up and wrapped her on her back. I believe her mother was very appreciative of the time I spent with the daughter. She smiled and thanked me as I handed her back. It was the last time I would see the girl that week, as her mom never brought her back, but I did see the mother several times while I was walking around and she smiled each time. When we finished around 20 of the children remained to play. We threw out the soccer ball for the guys and had a pretty intense game going. Worship was going on the side by Katie and Mustafa, and of course Ryan was having his beard pulled. I love the afternoons here.

Camp week 1 - CTK

Well, the morning started early for me. I was up at the sound of the thunder outside our window. As I lay there I was just thinking about how it would change our plans. The minutes of rain turned into a couple of hours. Now, most of the roads in Uganda are made of dirt, so rain is not a friend of transportation. As we sat outside and waited for our ride it didn’t come. Finally Pamela arrived and we loaded up the truck and headed out. The rain subsided as we got closer to the school, which is about 45 minutes away. When we arrived the New Life Home (NLH) boys were waiting along with 50 or so other singing children. We unloaded the truck and met with the guys for a minute to start registration. Each one of the Americans had a group they would start with each day, much like a home room. I got the little ones age 4-7. Usually this would be terrible for me, but I WAS SO HAPPY to have them and they were so darn cute. We were supposed to have around 10 because only the younger ones were coming to camp in the morning and the older ones in the afternoon. However, more and more kids kept coming in. Before my first 45 minutes with them my group was up to 20. Each morning we were supposed to go over the memory verse, Matt 5:6, play games, and just have fun. The first day the groups don’t rotate. So, I had my group for the next hour and a half for games, since that is my rotation. Ryan is doing science and they are making volcanoes. Mallory has crafts. Katie is doing a drum circle. So here I am on the first day with over two hours of time with 10 kids age 4-7, 5 kids age 10, and 5 kids 14 and over. I loved every minute of it. The kids were so smart and sometimes the little ones speak better English than the older ones. Finally it was time for chapel. The boys lead this. They have them sing. Then they do a skit we taught them. After the skit one of the Americans will go through the Bible story and we end with one of the boys giving their testimony. The boys did a great job leading all week. Since this will take a long time to write about every day, I am going to hit some highlights of each day.
We ended Monday by telling certain ones to come at 9 and the others to come at 1 for Tuesday. Tuesday they all showed up at 9, but we kept them separated, our mistake. So it was 9 the rest of the week for everybody. Since we had some extra time on Monday, I played with the kids while we waited on the taxi. That day I got the chance to just sit and talk with one of the older girls who is from a Muslim family. She really stuck on my heart each day and she was always there to smile and have a chat.
Tuesday, I learned the power of balloons and how great they are with kids that have never seen them. The head mistress was not able to be up and about on Monday and on Tuesday they asked Katie to come see her. I followed her down and she grabbed Moses to translate. Ester was lying in her bed with the other teachers sitting around nervously watching. She had told Katie on Monday that a lot of things were wrong. Today all of those things had gotten worse. As Katie was trying to figure out what it might be and why the doctor had given her the medicine she had, Mallory showed up with little Rose. Rose was by far my favorite. Her little smile could light up New York City. She wasn’t feeling good. So I took her from Mallory and waited to see what would happen with Ester. Ester dialed the number of her doctor and gave the phone to Katie. The doc couldn’t understand her so it was passed to Moses. I was proud of Moses for how he handled everything. He grabbed Katie and took her out of the room and told her that the doctor had given her the medicine because she had HIV and wanted to boost her immune system. We then asked if she had been told she had HIV and the answer was no. We asked the director of Abaana to come and talk to her on Wednesday to make sure everything was straight and to tell her that she needed to go and get a scan and blood work done. She told us that she couldn’t afford to. This is one of those sad things that is true here. She needs to go and have these things checked out and get on medicine but doesn’t have the money.
Back to Rose – She was just leaning on my shoulder as I held her and clutching my back. At the time I was just thinking, God we have just found out the headmistress might have HIV and this little girl is sick but we don’t know what to do. So I just walked around and sang in her ear. A great calm came over me and I knew God had things under control. After getting her some food and water she was back to smiling. It was a great day of trusting. Lots of times during the trip, and in my life in general, I know things are simply out of my control and I don’t know what to do. It is still so amazing to me to just turn those moments over to God and watching Him work it out in some mysterious way.
Wednesdays are my day to talk in chapel. We work off of the woman at the well story through the week. Katie has day 1 and talks about how we are all thirsting for something. Ryan has day 2 and talks about how God knows our sins, but he still loves us. I have day 3 and talk about Jesus being the Messiah. Mallory has the last day and talks about sharing what we know about Jesus with others. So I don’t typically like to give messages and then say “OK, if you wanna give your life to Christ….” So I walked pretty carefully through the invitation. Now I’ve also worked with youth and children long enough to know that everyone who comes forward is not coming for the invitation part. Some are there because I asked them to come, others because the person beside them did. The good thing is that I DON’T HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT. God knows what is going on in each person and so I just celebrate and know that he knows. Around 40 kids came forward and prayed, God knows what about but we celebrate what God is doing in their lives.
Thursday was a little different because they wanted to have a soccer match against us. So we made the mistake of thinking this was just a friendly game and would only take about 30 minutes or so and then we would end with chapel. Nayda (no). There is nothing here that is simply for fun when it comes to soccer. This was war. I prayed half the game that no one would get hurt. I don’t have shoes to play in while Im here and the sandals just weren’t working. So I went for the bare feet thing. It took 5 minutes before I was stepping in the manure left all over the field by the cows. I was finally able to convince them to end the game after about 45 minutes. Abaana 2 CTK 1.
While we were at the field one girl was run over by a bike while she was crossing the road. Her head was sliced open and so Katie had to go and take care of that. She decided not to do stitches and just to come back and check on her two days later. When we came back on Saturday they had taken her to the hospital. We still haven’t heard how she is.
SO camp week one was a success. It was full of trials and triumphs. Mostly, though, it was full of God. Watching the NLH boys lead was great. They are continuing to grow in knowledge and understanding. Afterwards they all shared how great full they were to be allowed the opportunity. No one had ever believed in them. They had always been told to stay away from the teams that traveled. They weren’t allowed to eat the same things or be around them without supervision. They always thought that they would never lose the image of a street boy. Now they are excited to see that is gone. There is nothing wrong with them and they are our friends. There were plenty of smiles on faces of children and us alike. Smiles that were full of God’s grace and love. There were lots of hugs and hand holding that didn’t want to stop at the end of the day. That’s what happens when God forms a bond. It is deeper than we can imagine. Those children will have my heart. I pray they have God’s.

I found a bride - No Lie!!!

I know it seems really tacky and most of you might not believe this, but I have found a bride. She is a knockout. Unfortunately she isn’t my bride. She is Christ’s. Although the Bible was referring to the universal church as his bride(Rev 19:6-9), I believe that each week as I attend the gathering of believers here in Kampala it is a good picture of what His bride will look like.
We have been attending Calvary Chapel in downtown Kampala. It occupies the 4th and 5th floor of a building that sits just above the taxi park. It is known as a muzungu church by the Ugandans. I’m pretty sure it’s because the majority of worship is in English and resembles what many contemporary churches in America would have, and not that there are about 15 white people each week. Regardless, each Sunday I see something beautiful. The pastors themselves are from 3 different continents (Asia, North America, and Africa). The worship leaders vary as well. Most days you see the influence of 6 of the 7 continents in worship – I have yet to find an impact from Antarctica. There are people from all the continents, maybe except Australia. I can’t be for sure on that one, but some of the music is from an Australian band. There are business men and woman, worshippers from the middle class, and there are street kids. You don’t see people not sitting by someone for any reason, but rather we get packed in together. Personally, seeing all the differences is something that draws me to the heart of God.
However, all the differences in the world won’t make her pretty. She can be pretty on the outside, because it’s the inside that God sees. I believe when God looks at our group of believers he sees a group of passionate worshipers. Each week you can feel the spirit descending during our praise and resting above us. I see people moved to tears, others bowing in prayer, and still others sing and shout with faces bursting with joy. I tend to sit near one of the windows that looks over the city. Just below is a busy intersection. I love it when we sing songs with words of shouting so the whole world will hear, and I pray for those people moving about on the street. I pray for those people who are stuck in place where they can’t seem to worship. Buildings with the name “church on them”, but looking so much like an ugly step-sister. I believe Jesus wants His bride. I believe Jesus wants His bride to WANT Him. I believe in her. Many years ago the call of God for me was to work on her. God is renewing that call in me. We are all called to that though. We are all called to make her more beautiful. Will you join me? Will you help me in the wedding plans? One of my friends in Christ wrote, “It was time for us to quit complaining about the church we saw, and start becoming the church we wanted to see.” I CHOOSE 2B apart of the Bride of Christ. Will you?

Teacher Weekend Nov 18-19

So last weekend we had twenty teachers, pastors, and administrators from all over the country to the guesthouse for a training of sorts. You might be asking how that came about. Well when we met with Abaana UK, it was suggested that we have a training for teachers to help them with their prayer times at school. While I have been out visiting school and evaluating what I saw I was able to deliver the invitations to the schools. Since we were going to have them at the house we thought it would be good to teach them basic first aid. Also, I learned that most of them did not have a sex education program or they used the governments and it was good. So why not throw some sex in with the word of God?
Teachers began arriving at noon. That was only 6 hours early. We, as the team, had already had a long day and had gotten stuck downtown in the rain. We were worried about making it back on time so we split up so someone was there. By 7 we had all the teachers except from two schools so we got started. We did a little intro and then ate dinner. After dinner, I started us out on speaking and learning techniques. We talked about being sensory learners and how we could incorporate that into whatever we were talking about. Then we talked about sight, hearing, and touch being the three main ways we would teach in class and I went over a couple of object lessons to help them understand what I was talking about.
Saturday we had breakfast and got started early with object lessons. Some of you may not know that I have done seminars for a couple of years on this topic at youth events so this was not new to me. It was knew giving it to a room full of Ugandans. The language barrier wasn’t too big of a problem because I talked really slow. We talked about attention span and how it is important to understand we have to change things in order to keep their attention. Finally, we went through several examples and I let them come up with ways it related to God. As we ended I gave them the assignment to bring an object lesson from each school before I talked to them later.
Then, Katie came in to start us out on sex education. Most Americans get shy or uneasy just when you bring that up, but trust me we are more open than Ugandans so imagine how they felt. We told them it was OK and that we wanted the conversation to be relaxed and that it would be funny at times but we were all adults. She talked about why it was important for them to teach sex education at school. We learned how most of them found out, which was through their peers. Then we went into the myths they had heard about sex. Needless to say this was quite funny. However, it is also a shame that some people believe in certain techniques for protection. After we gave some facts to replace the myths, it was time for a break. After the break we started CPR. I got to be the dummy, no mouth to mouth though. CPR took awhile and we were only able to start into other areas for a few minutes before we broke for lunch.
After lunch each school presented their object lesson to the others so they could have 7 more examples to use for teaching. Some were better than others, but I could tell that each one had learned the basic idea behind using the senses to teach. The Katie came back to talk through the parts of the body and how to teach these topics to the kids. Finally we finished up with a quick run through of first aid care, cuts, sprains, broken bones, and burns. Next Pamela, who is head of Abaana Uganda, spoke with them about end of the year reports and improvements at the schools. Last, I left them with a devotional about allowing God to use them and trusting in His power.
Although when you read it, and if you were here, it doesn’t seem as though we did a whole lot. But it is amazing how thankful they were for what we could teach them. Overall it went better than I think we could have imagined. Who knows there may be thousands of children who now know more about sex because of Katie and that in itself is pretty funny and amazing.