The Boys of Summer

What a blessing it was that a church we love and used to serve with in Mississippi sent us two interns for a six week term this summer. We had the best time with them, and we couldn't love them more. They were incredible amazing guys, and I apologize (especially to them) that I haven't written a post about them sooner!

The first day they got off the plane, Karis had prepared breakfast (remember?) and then we took them shopping for things they might need in Arua.

It didn't take long before Caleb was attached to Will (literally).  Kids are a good judge of character, and I'd say that Caleb has pretty good taste.  Will Morgan is awesome!

My children were loving them so much by day 3, they couldn't wait to pose by the Nile with them.

I'm not leaving out Tyler.  He is just as awesome as Will.  We love Tyler Slay!

Tyler had been an intern the year before to Kenya, and he brought valuable experience to the "Pioneer" Team.  We never once had to hold their hands, but it would have been okay if we had had to.  

They cooked for themselves, took instruction about culture well, and then they went out and did just what we are called to do as followers of Jesus:

Matthew 28:18-20

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.


They started their "going" at the golf course, trying to make connections.

I love this picture of all the nationals trying to find their balls for them.

At the golf course, they met Richard (who ended up being baptized and being my partner at camp), and they met another non-believer that they spent time sharing stories with.

Another place they were faithful to go was the baseball field, with our without Doug. 

When Doug was busy, they biked to the fields anyway.

Doug, letting the team field some balls

Tyler was also kind enough to let me steal pictures from his facebook.  There are so many things in town I wish I could get pictures of for you, but I feel awkward walking around like a tourist with a camera.

Tyler had a small, inconspicuous iphone, and he took some great photos that I stole from him and I'm going to share with you.

You saw most of these if you got my last newsletter, but I wanted to share again.  So many of you want to be able to picture in your head where I live, and though I can never describe it accurately enough for you, these photos do help.

Tyler and Will bought a chicken so they could kill it, pluck it and cook it...just for the experience ;)

Ladies in town cooking the local food...Enya (ground up casava, mixed with millet and water)

The used clothes market, which can be nasty to walk through on wet days

One of the hundreds of local tailors.  They can make anything you like WITHOUT a pattern!

A great place to eat in town.  We don't go here enough!

Pretty typical, especially after a rain

Another great restaurant we love...Ethiopian!!! (No utensils, but great food)

A view of the main road (where the pink building is) from a side street

How dry goods are sold in the market (by the "cup")

A TINY, TINY portion of our HUGE market.  After a rain, it's kind of a mess.

A busy side street.  Everyday greetings occurring and shoes being sold to the right.

My friend says you can find almost anything you need in Arua, if you know where to look...she's probably right ;)

Local auto dealer.  This is what most people drive in Arua.

Another "convenient store" selling boxes of water, jerry cans, and much, much more!

There are so many more stories, but I'll only tell one more (on the next post).  In case you've forgotten (because I've been such a sporadic writer) I've already told you one about baptism.

We love these guys, and we surely hated to see them go!

Last day together, giving them a "going away" gift

You are welcome in our home anytime, Tyler and Will!  You will be part of the Taylor family forever!

In front of Lake Victoria in Entebbe before they flew out

Friends and Retreat

I've shown you pictures of some of my national friends here in Arua, but I haven't shown you pictures of my ex-pat friends, so I thought I would.

These are some of my friends who live in other countries, but I get to see them in a couple of weeks in Kenya, and it will be so fun to connect again.

Here in Arua, some of the ex-pat ladies had a retreat to celebrate our study of the Book of Esther.

We had a "banquet" and got all dressed up.

Some of us who didn't have dresses went to the clothing market in town and bought prom dresses for $5 each.

These are all the ladies (minus Vikki, with the camera) that attended. They are from Canada, Germany, Austria, England, Ireland, Kenya, and America.

This is my teammate Pam. She has lived in Arua for 10 years.

Below is Sandra (L) and Meg (R). They are both leaving this summer.

Sandra home schools Pam's children, and Meg is the one God sent to teach Kylie ballet (she also washes dishes every time she visits). Do you think her mother will let me keep her?

Sherry is my dear friend who Meg actually works for and with. All the pictures that I took at Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve were at her house. I have a lot of fun with her.

She has lived here for 20 years.

Now you can see Vikki. She's on the far left. She has been here about 15 years (I think).

These are all the ladies from America.

Maggie is my friend and neighbor (two houses down) from Kenya. She moved to Arua the same week I did. After I learn Lugbara, maybe she'll teach me Swahili.

This sweet lady led the retreat and did an amazing job! Her name is Joanna, and she has been here almost five years.

The banquet.

Life in the Big City

I wanted to title this blog "City Mouse, Country Mouse," but oh well.

We had a lot of fun in Kampala, and got to do some new things as a family.

My sweet friend, Natalie, that arranged travel for us one year ago to the Houston airport used to live in Kampala as a journeyman. She returned with some friends to work on a new project they are starting.

Their project is a children's home for kids who are too old to remain in an orphanage. They found a house-mother, and they have six children right now (5 boys and 1 girl). They have room for 25, so they are really excited about the possibilities.

Kylie and Karis went to the home with the team from America to play with the little girl, since she always has boys around. Doug, Caleb, and I met up with them half way through their time when they went to the mall to buy shoes for their school uniforms. They kids were so excited!

The only girl is in this picture on the left. Isn't she beautiful?

Earlier that day, all of us went to an orphanage for children ages birth to 3. We were not allowed to take pictures, so you will just have to use your imagination.

The reason we went to this particular orphanage is because one of the ladies adopted her daughter from there 9 years ago when conditions were less than satisfactory. She wanted to check on the conditions today.

Thankfully, the place was cleaner, nicer, and there was a lot of good stuff going on. Of course, there is always room for improvement.

When we first arrived, I explained to Caleb what an orphanage was, and he looked at me and said, "Are we taking one home?" Natalie, who had heard our conversation, said, "Caleb, that is an appropriate response after hearing what an orphanage is." And how true that is. There are over 2 million orphans in Uganda that need homes.

All of the infants (and there were WAY too many...although, ONE is too many) were in individual cribs, but we were told not to hold them. I didn't understand, but I didn't ask questions.

(As a side note, we heard of a mother who came to the gate and just threw her newborn on the ground and walked away. I had the pleasure of being with that young girl in the three year old room, and she is a delight to be around. I was told that she is one of the blessed ones. Many women who don't want their children, literally throw them in the garbage. Let's not talk about that anymore...)

Doug was sequestered to haul wood after some time with me and Natalie in the 3-year old room, and my three children preferred the 6-9 month old room.

We stayed for about 4 hours and played with the children. We were not allowed to have them sit in our laps or hold them, and that was difficult for all of us. It was explained that you can do those things when they are out in the yard, but when they have designated "class time," they need to act like "students."

After about 3 hours, the children in the room Kylie was in got baths. They lined up about 12 tubs outside on the sidewalk, filled them with water, waited for them to warm up in the sun, and then 12 of the kids had an adult sit with them and bathe them. Kylie loved this. She had a little girl that was her favorite all day, and I was pretty sure she was going to ask to take her home at the end of the day.

It was something my family needed to do, but it was also very heart-breaking to think about these kids without families.

Thankfully, we get to spend every Sunday with these guys.


















They are some of the kids at ORA, in the foster care system in Arua, and we love them. (They even have a "Kathryn" and a "Doug" in the group).


Doug and I had a date night while we were in the "big city," and that was so nice. Jan and Lynn, the friends we went on vacation with over Christmas, kept the kids for us. The kids had so much fun, they didn't want us to come home.

Speaking of "big city," here's a little comparison of things between Kampala and Arua. Many similar things can be seen in both places, but there are a few that can't.

Like this:

Kampala (big-city stuff)

Arua

Kampala (kids going through the trash - although we do have this in Arua, too)

Arua (a different kind of "kid" going through trash - although I'll bet Kampala has this, too)

(Check out the pregnant goat!!)

Kampala traffic jam - cars and motorcycles

Arua traffic jam - people and animals

Or...not much traffic at all.

This last snapshot I took last week in Arua. The amount of dust in the air during hot season is amazing.

My mother just thinks she is a bad house keeper because she rarely dusts.

We live with our doors and windows open, so you can imagine the dust problem in our home.

Mom, if you want to feel good about your house-keeping skills, you are free to come for a visit!

Two journeys, one camera

I hardly ever ride in a vehicle around town, so when we went to pick up Melissa at the airport, I took my camera to see if I could spy anything interesting around town.

Here's a snapshot of our short journey.

The road outside our gate.

We possibly might have the worst washed-out road in town.

It was a big day for campaigning.

These people were yelling and shouting for their favorite candidate.

This is a sample of a daily thing we see.

People can carry ANYTHING on the back of a bike.

I've seen doors, beds, desks, chickens, pigs, goats, stalks of bananas, 20 foot long pipe, and any type of food that needs to get to market.

Here's another sample: cabbages

The roads always seem impassable. You wonder how all the people and bikes will move so you and your car can get through. Somehow it always works out.

We decided to try to take one of the better roads home so the ride would be smoother part of the way. When we turned, this is what we found.

We were glad we were turning just up ahead.

Then, they turned, too, so we kept following them.

Just so you know, these cows take this journey back and forth every day. The cattle herders take them somewhere to graze, and then they take them back home.

Right after the cows finally turned off, I saw this woman carrying sticks on her head with a baby on her back.

Just like the cows, this is a daily thing that I see. The women here are amazing!

Later on in the day, it was time to travel to the home where our Thanksgiving meal would be.

We had to cross this bridge.

I don't know why this bridge always makes me nervous, but it does.

The only fun thing about the bridge is getting to look off to the right as you drive over.

THIS is Arua's car wash.

The little river that runs under this wooden bridge always has one or more cars down in it, up to the floor boards, getting a scrub.

The day after Thanksgiving, I happened to be in the car with a camera again.

This is as you come into Arua. The number of people walking on the side of the road still amazes me nearly one year later.

This little green door is where I buy eggs (when the hens are laying).

A little monkey lives inside this compound, too, but I've only seen him once, and my kids haven't seen it at all. I wonder if they would let us in for a peek?

Finally, we were back home again, and two guys from the baseball team were waiting at our gate to talk to Doug. While they visited, one of the guys spotted this.

This is what it looked like underneath, so you can see the length better.

About 30 minutes later, George the Vet showed up to doctor Lee's leg.

Our dog cut himself on a sharp piece of ceramic while he was chasing a lizard.

Yes, that is muscle and tendon you are seeing.

The vet comes every day to give Lee two injections and to spray that purple antibiotic on the wound.

Just in case you were wondering, we don't have too many dull moments around here. Something is always going on.