I apologize for the delay in posting. Welcome to Africa in all its technological glory. :)

Today is friday and here in Uganda it is evening. The men completed the course and all have passed with flying colors. I can use that expression because most of my readers are American and most speak English very well. Over here, if I used that expression, very few would know what that meant. This morning we had a final quiz and then handed out the certificates of completion to all the men. There were many ‘snaps’ taken and congratulating and handshaking all around. It was truly a joyous occasion and everyone was excited and happy to have finished the course. A great relief has been lifted from all our shoulders.

A few days ago, I got into an arm wrestling match with a young man taking the course called Otuta. We never had a chance to finish the match because the service started. Well just before the evening service tonight, We got a table and finished the match. I was defeated. Otuta broke my 5 match winning streak. I fought valliantly, but he was just to strong for me. Oh well…

Tomorrow we go to see a real Ugandan village. I am told that it is much different from the city life I have been experiencing for the past two weeks. This should prove interesting, in light of the conditions of the so called roads here in the city. Few of them are paved, many should be called gullys, and some would be better named as foot paths. <grin> It is interesting to note that most of the people here do not dress in some kind of typical African garb. The vast majority of people here in Uganda wear clothing that looks like it was cast off from the States. It is not uncommon to see people wearing Dominoes Delivery shirts and such things like that.

I am looking forward to seeing my friends and family again. Home is begining to grow in my thoughts and I am longing to see Saint Louis again. I wonder how work is doing without me? I would very much like to speak with a few people again. I miss my roomate among others, and a certain online friend I have become used to chatting with. Only four more days until I arrive home. Until then I send you all greetings from the Guimons and all those in Uganda. I love you Mom and Dad. :)

In Uganda,

5/26/02
Over the past week and a half, I have risen at 6:30 and gone to bed at 9:30 – 10:00. I have worked hard, focused on a single task, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. A very active part of me still wishes that I did not have to work that hard all the time. You see, I’m a lazy person at heart most of the time. <grin> Each time I am in a situation that requires a lot out of me, and I give it all I have, I gain a little more ground on my lazy nature. This trip has given me ample opportunity to work and I feel as though my lazy nature is loosing badly. <grin> I have tasted the fruit of well earned labor and have found it sweet.

Teaching is not an easy profession. If a teacher tries hard, and puts his heart into his work, he will of necessity invest much of himself in his students. Herein lies the blessing and curse of a teacher. Some will understand and do well, some will not. Those that do not will cause the teacher pain, those that do understand will bring joy. I have been nervous for my students, hoping and wanting each one to understand the material and do well on their assignments. I do believe I was more nervous for them than they were. Time will tell how well they do…

5/27/02
Fatigue set in today. I could feel it wash over me in waves of semi painful feeling as I sat outside the church building waiting to start class. Partly the fatigue is emotional. Having invested much in these men, I want badly for them to do well. They turn in their biggest assignment tomorrow.

On a side note, I am learning more about how to relate to the female gender. <grin> They are an enigmatic gender, and in many things they do confound and often amuse and frustrate me. Having observed and listened to many of my seniors, I have given up hope of ever understanding them. I can now only work to avoid gettin on their nerves. hehe….

5/28/02
Today the men turned in their biggest assignment. They had to do a study of the book of Philippians, discerning the main truth of each paragraph. They all did very well. I am relieved to have it finished and more so to know that the guys are understanding the material.

I have been craving time alone of late as well. I love the people in our group very much, but I have become used to spending a lot of my time alone. In the past two weeks, I have been around many of them 24/7. I am not irritates with any of them, but I feel full and a little overwhelmed. I need time to contemplate and think about the experiences I have had.

In a few days we will be heading home and I am glad. But I will miss many of the people here. I like being called teacher, though the responsibility is often heavy. These people have been truly grateful for our help, and I feel humbled by them. I hope and pray that each will be blessed by what we have tried to do here. God has shown Himself very powerful and we all stand amazed in His presence.

Thank you all for your prayers. May the grace of God be with you all, Amen.

In Uganda,

Greetings from Uganda. Today was fabulous. We went to Sipi Falls, which is located up in a mountinous area near Mount Elgon. The waterfalls were breathtaking, and the views were awe inspiring. I took several rolls of film, and when I get back to the states I will try to post them online for your viewing pleasure.

All the people here are doing well. Getting to know some of these people better has been a great experience. We have one down and one week to go, and I am pleasantly tired and not exactly ready to launch into another week of teaching. :) Teaching is much harder than it looks. I think the most difficult thing about teaching is the thought that some of your students may not learn. To think that they are trying so hard and they run the risk of not making it is almost more than I like to think about. Pray for them and me. I want to do my best for them, and I need God help.

I would like to emphasize how little you can depend on things like electricity and water around here. If phone calls and emails and posts take longer than expected it is because we are very busy and many times the necessities do not work around our schedule. <grin> Than part of what being a missionary is about. I have learned a tremendous amount of what missionaries go through teaching and dealing with differences in culture. I need to go so i’ll talk with ya later.

In Uganda,

Greetings to all the saints who labor in the States. :) Before I begin to ramble on about my thoughts and things for the day I have an important message for everyone. The priciple thing here is Africa is that resources are often limited. Some families may not have heard from their loved ones in a little while, and that is because there is one phone and one laptop that can be used for internet access, and the access to the internet is limited. The Guimons have done their best to help us communicate to everyone, but with 11 people calmoring for use, sometimes there just isn’t time. You take this and figure in a 60/40 chance of having electricity to charge the phone and laptop with and you get sporadic usage. So please accept our apologies for any delays or missed opportunities to talk. :)

Now for the news… The first week has concluded and much has been accomplished. The men are, for the most part, grasping the material that we are teaching. Many find it hard to understand the complexities ofthe English grammer. We have gone over the majority of the learning and much of the next week will be spent practicing what we have learned.

I am begining to get to know many of the people here. I have 13 men in my class, and it is a new experience to be called teacher. I am given a lot of repect because of my position. Sometimes I feel like I do not deserve it, for many of these men are older than me, and some are older than my parents. It is gratifying also to see some of them work as hard as they do trying to learn. For them, learning how to study the Bible for themselves is a great gift. Many times we take our understanding of scripture and grasp of the English language for granted in the United States. Most people here live in poverty, and the men here know that the only hope Uganda has for escaping the conditions they endure is for the Gospel of God to be preached to their nation but people from their nation.

Please pray for them and us. Perhaps I sound like a broken record, or you may think that the need is not as great as I make it out to be. But I would encourage you to pray every day for us. More depends on the success of this endevour than you can know.

To mom and dad and all my friends out there Grace and Peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Uganda,

It has been several days since I have posted last, and I apologize for the delay. The sporadic electricity and water combine for many challenging experiences, and delays. The time here has been spent well, but we have been very busy. Let me catch you up on the happenings of the past few days.

5/20/02
Today was the first day of class, and already I am thinking with an Ugandan accent. Before long i will be speaking just as they do, and when I get home I will be speaking in short sentences and emphasizing certain sounds and dropping my ‘r’s. :) The men learn eagerly, but much of the work is challenging. Their grade levels are about 4th or 5th, and they have a hard time with abstract ideas. It is challenging to express the ideas in more concrete examples. It is gratifying as a teacher, and they give me much respect. It is humbling to me, because many of the men are older.

I preached my first short sermon for pastor during the main group session today as well. God was merciful, and I felt that the message was received.

5/21/02
Tonight I took Dr. Guimons advice and tried a small amount of Valium to help me sleep. I am approaching a level of fatigue that is bringing me close to crankiness. For those who know me, this very rarely happens. As a result of my fatigue, I have been more contemplative and quiet than usual, and the many different experiences combine with some of my emotions to make more a little unstable. <grin> God is faithful though, I have never know Him to allow me to lose myself. With a little sleep I shall be fine.

5/22/02
Today is the third day of class, and the men are doing very well. Please pray for them, the work they are asked to do is very hard and requires a lot of time and effort to grasp. It happens to me every time I begin a project that I have never tried before. I begin with a lot of enthusiasm, and as things progress I get to a point where I begin to doubt if I am able to fulfill my responsibilities. These are times when I have to trust God to be faithful and provide me with the grace I need to accomplish His will. Part of the pressure of this task specifically is that more than my success depends on my ability. These men are depending on me to help them, and the stakes for them are high. Africa is in great need of men from their own countries who can preach and teach their own people. This class is the beginning of the training of those men who will be able to make a difference in Uganda. Please pray.

5/23/02
Today we are past the most difficult part of the course, and although many of the men struggled very much with the work, they are beginning to understand how it works. It was encouraging to see some of them begging to grasp the concepts and apply them correctly. In church tonight I was impressed by the enthusiasm of the Christians here is their worship of God. Pastor Stensas told me about a young lady, who is 14 year old, and never misses a service. She has been faithful since they first began their work in Soroti. It is people like her, her name is Gladys, who will be at the front of the change in Uganda for the people of God.

Again I ask for you all to pray for the men and those of us who are teaching the class here. There is much left to be done and we need your help. Side note: I have been sleeping better. I discovered that the problem is noise, there is very little here in Uganda. I am so used to sleeping not far from a highway, and the ambient noise is a part of my sleeping cycle. Here, when the power goes out, the fan does not run and I wake up at night. <grin> This is all a part of being a servant of God. Valium helps things like that, so I am applying that medicine.

Time to go, love you all at home, especially mom.

In Uganda,

Today was the first day of class. Things went very well, the men seemed as though they understood and were catching on quickly. We won’t know for sure until tomorrow when they take the test and turn in their homework. Please continue to pray, there is much work left to be done and very little time.

I am sleeping better than before. Last night I only woke up twice during the night. I think of all the things that I miss the most, regular dependable water is the one. It is difficult to shower, but not being able to flush after every use is disturbing. As Dr. Guimon says here, ‘If its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down.’ Oh well, we live and serve in the conditions God puts us in, and it has given me a new appreciation for what I have at home.

I am beginning to think and journal with a Ugandan accent. They speak English here mostly, but with a heavy accent. Their sentences are short, and they emphasize each word. Many times I find myself saying, ‘very bad’, or ‘very good’ to describe things I would normally describe in more detail.

The men in my class are very cool. Some of their names are Manday, Eriju, Paul Milugi, and Twasea. Please pray for them, for there is much to learn, and very little time.

In Uganda,

This morning, we went to the market in Soroti. They had fresh fruits and vegetables for sale. Their meat was out in the open as well. I am still tired, though on Ugandan time, and i have been contemplative for most of the day. I have been struck with how real everything is here. You get used to thinking about foreign cultures from a distance, and things here are not far away, but at your doorstep. Much of what you see has none of the romance painted by movies and television. The need is here great.

This afternoon we went on visitation. I was paired with to Ugandan’s, Monday and Richard. I was very impressed with how well they handled themselves. The importance of knowing the Bible and having it memorized can not be understated. Being able to explain what you know is also a very important skill. Twice I was asked to ‘preach’ to the person, and I found myself floundering for lack of what to say. Another difficulty is understanding what they mean when you talk to them. It isn’t that I can not understand their English, but what they mean by what they say is often not the same thing as what I mean.

Tomorrow is Sunday, it is 10:00 here in Soroti. I have so enjoyed my experiences so far. It is very nice to be free of the constant noise of the city. Our accents are very confused right now. Having passed through England and here, we are picking up little mannerisms. I keep catching myself using their manner of speech. By the time we get home we will likely be comfortable using their kind of English, so it should be fun for you all when we get home.

On a personal note, I love you Mom and have thought of you and Dad while I’ve been away. I like traveling and I hope to do more in the future. Just want to say hi to all my friends, Jon, Anna, Dave, Ben, Tamara, Allen and Megan, Sarah in San Francisco, Warren, Andrew, Jeremy and Julie, Chad Burnz, and all those I can’t remember at the moment. Yoga Do (goodbye in Ateso)

In Uganda,

We are finally here!!! The trip was very long, but my first experience flying was very cool. Getting luggage through everywhere was a pain, and a couple of bags gave us trouble, but thankfully we all managed to get here with all our stuff. The bag with the chaulk for our chaulk artist, Joshua, got lost and didn’t make it to the airport. So we would all appreciate your prayers concerning that.

Entebbe and Kampala are incredible. The level of technology is so primitive compared with the states. I am just now begining to get a small grasp of the importance of what is going on here. Please pary for all of us as we prepare for the class.

I’m writing from an office for for British Air, we are here trying to track down that missing bag. I’ll leave you today with a haiku I composed while on the plane, looking out over an expanse of blue and silver clouds.

Clouds silver and blue
Endless lands beneath my feet
The freedom of flight

In Uganda,