Questioned...

I walked to town today, and on the way, I decided to take some pictures for you and my family, so you could see small parts of Arua.

Thankfully, I still have them on my camera, and I will post them although I know you don't believe me because I never got the termite video loaded (but I am going to visit a high-speed internet connection one day).

Anyway, walking down main street, I took a couple of photos of people on the side of the road and on the road. All of a sudden, to my left, a policeman touched my arm and asked me to follow him. We turned back up the street and entered a gated area.

Inside the gated area, I was asked to sit in a chair that was by a desk in a little watch tower while another guy padlocked the gated area shut. He wanted to know what I was taking pictures of, so I told them I was taking pictures for my mom so she could see where I lived. He wanted to see.

I showed him the golf course, the scenery, the people, and then I said, "I did not take a picture of your police station." He said, "This is not a police station. This is a bank. The bank of Uganda."

I assured him I didn't take any pictures of the bank, and after seeing all the proof, he said I could go. I thanked him in Lugbara, and all the men (the four who had gathered around my digital) laughed. I then answered some more of their questions in Lugbara, and they were thrilled. So they quickly took the padlock off and let me go.

I walked like nothing had happened down to the Chinese grocery store to buy some milk, water bottles and a bar of soap. On the way home, I walked to the woman's ward of the hospital and I handed out water and prayed with everyone in the room. All the beds were full, and there was not a nurse in sight caring for anyone. In case you've never seen a "hospital room" in Africa, it is one large room with as many beds as they can fit. This room had about 20. I ran out of water before I made it around the room, so I just prayed with the ones that were left. I would ask their name and speak what little Lugbara I know.

One lady who spoke English knew I had no more water but she wanted something else from my market bag. I told her I had milk, and she said she would take it (of course). Then I walked to a lady and prayed with her. She started telling me something, but I didn't understand. Another translated with one word: soap.

She wanted soap.

I told her that God had me buy soap just for her, and even though she didn't understand me, I had to say it out loud because I was so overjoyed.

What are the chances that my son would have accidentally knocked my washing soap bar down the toilet earlier that week?

What are the chances I would have soap in my bag?

Pretty good, I'd say.

I had asked God to meet people's needs through me today, and I had asked Him to lead me where He wanted me to go.

It was a good morning. I'll take being questioned by the police any day as long as it can end up like this one.

I saw you this week

Yes, I saw everyone of you.

I was in the used clothes market in downtown Arua.

Clothes are shipped here in bundles (tied up like a square bale of hay) from the States and Europe, and they are all from Goodwill-type outlets. I saw every football team imaginable represented, even local high school teams. There was "First Baptist this" and "Such and such Recognized Elementary school for "here"; there were tons of dresses, skirts, pants, and all the ring-around-the collar business shirts you could want. There was even a Texas A&M Football shirt.

I could see all of you hanging up all over the market, and it made me smile.

Did I mention?

**Did I mention we get “2 days away” each month, but I don’t know where we would go. Congo? Sudan? The nearest decent city in Uganda is 8 hours away.

We are planning our first “2 days away” for next week. We are going to Murchison Falls Game Reserve. It is only 2 hours away, but it can be very expensive. It caters to tourists who have the money to spend on safaris. Anyway, we figured that while we are in Africa, we should see some animals, so we are going to bite the bullet this time, and then next month, we might just stay at our home and tell people we are “away.”

**Did I mention that our crate is officially in-route. This is good news, although I don’t know if that means “Atlantic Ocean in-route” or “Houston ship channel in-route.” I’ll keep you updated.

**Did I mention that on April 20th, we will be leaving Arua and not returning until June 7th. It is really going to hurt our language training process, but it is unavoidable.

We will be attending a safari-type training called 40/40 in Lusaka, Zambia, for 30 something of those days. Then we will take a quick 3 or 4-day jaunt down to Victoria Falls. We figured since we were close, we should see it before flying back to Uganda.

Once we return to Uganda, we have some medical appointments in Kampala for Caleb (his four-year old shots) and some immunization updates for Doug and me plus we will re-stock for Arua.

But wait…there’s more. We will stay in Kampala until June 3rd, which is when our sub-cluster’s prayer retreat starts in Jinja.

All of that is to say, if you need communication during that time, it will be nearly impossible until I return to Kampala, and more than likely, I will not be able to facebook or tell anyone “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary” during that time except my daughter, who will be with me on her special day.

**Did I mention we got a package?

Our first package!!

My sister-in-law, Courtney, was really on the ball, and she sent out a package for Valentine’s Day. It left the US on February 8th and arrived in my hands on March 3rd. Not bad! It may have even been here sooner…let me explain.

One of our college guys, Evan, went to the post office today to mail something, and the man there said, “I think you have packages.” (Our whole team of 19 shares the same post office box). The man looked in several places and kept finding packages. When all was said and done, Evan walked out with NINE packages. No telling how long some had been there, and unless you think we hadn’t been in a while, that is not the case. I believe someone checks every day.

The sad part for some is that they are still waiting on Christmas presents that have not arrived. There were a few boxes mailed in November that have YET to make it. I’ve heard that bubble envelopes or the pre-set priority mail-boxes get here quickest, but I have no proof.

My kids each quickly picked out a flavor to put in their Nalgene bottle and had fun trying the different ones. They also had fun seeing their homemade Valentine cards from cousins, Bryce and Mia. Thanks guys. Your cards did make it to Africa!

The pipe cleaners disappeared to be made into “experiments,” and I quickly confiscated the scotch tape, so I could pass out “healthy portions” when needed. It’s okay here to scotch tape things to the walls (I imagine you sucking in huge amounts of air here). Now that we have tape, Kylie and Karis decided to decorate their rooms today. They did a fine job, and I still think we have tape left.

Things like scotch tape and zip lock bags will not be taken for granted anymore. I wash zip locks every day to be re-used and shed a tear when they get too worn to use anymore. Thankfully, I have more coming in the crate…

Your worst nightmare; their greatest joy

These are termites.

You know, those things you spend hundreds of dollars of years fighting against to protect your property.

Thursday, here was "coming out" day - or the first of many so I hear.

The large ones coming out of the ground with the large wings fly away and the small, worker ones left, supposedly die.

As the large ones are coming out of the ground (which they do heavily on one day, and every now and then for a few weeks) the African people try to catch them. Here is one trap built by a small girl outside our gate in the middle of the road. My kids watched.






















Then my kids went back in the compound, got containers, and tried to catch them for fun, but our watchman would grab one and eat it.

Eat it.

Eat it.

Did you get that part?

This little girl (and every kid in the county) was singing the word for "termite" over and over "calling them out" of their hole. This singing went on for HOURS. I wish you could have heard the neighborhood.













I have a small recording of the girl singing, but I think I will have to wait until tomorrow morning to load it when the internet is better.

Here she is eating a snack before she takes her cup full home to her mom.

What a power outage looks like

Earlier, I promised you a picture of Caleb when the power went out in the middle of his hair cut. Here it is.

















I also finally got a picture of a piki. Here is the piki I rode home from church with Karis and Caleb. I was sitting where Caleb is, side saddle, and Caleb was on my lap.














And here is Kylie, with Sandra (a journeyman) on the back.













Since I'm posting pictures, here is one of Awindiri Baptist Church, where Doug spent two nights last week.













And where the ladies cooked their meals.













Since I am already doing random photos - some of you asked about our dogs. They have arrived. The big one (that Doug has his arm around) is Lee. And the smaller girl is Hakuna Matata (Hakuna for short). They came not only with the names, but also well-trained. Our watchmen have commented on how helpful they are patrolling the compound at night.













I also hope to get a picture of the fabric market downtown. There are thousands of crazy patterns to choose from in stall after stall after stall. I picked out a few patterns and had some curtains made for the house. I also let the kids pick out patterns for each of their windows. I had no idea how beneficial the curtains would be on the west side of the house. It really helps cut down on the heat that comes in during the afternoon. It was well worth every shilling ($7 for the material and $2.50 to have them made). I guess I didn't need my mom's sewing machine after all.















My houseworker told me she went to textile school. I don't know what all she learned there, but she has a sewing machine, and she takes material one day and comes back with an item the next.

If any of you would like her to make you an apron, I'm sure I could arrange it :)

Well, that is enough random photos for tonight. I need to go study my Lubara.

A ni Lugbara ti muke ku. "I don't know Lugbara well."

We're still here

We have been without power since Friday at 6pm. The electric company announced on the radio that they needed all weekend with the power turned off to fix some issues.

Well, it's Monday morning (when they said it would be back on), and it is not.

I'm just telling you all this because I don't have power to charge my computer, so I can't write a lot right now. I will try to be back on soon.

I think we will fire up the generator a few hours today to save the freezer. Doug ran it a few hours last night while the baby sitters were here, and we went out for Valentine's. That is why I had some power saved up this morning.

So, we'll be checking in soon...hopefully

I looked at a menu today

One of the journeygirls invited me to get a coke in town, so the kids stayed at the Wafler's house, and she and I started walking.

When we got to the piki stop, there was only one piki (motorcycle), but two bodas (bicycles). I offered to take a boda, so Kelli could have the piki.

Looking back, it was a hilarious episode (that's for you, Kyle)!!

Kelli took off on her motorcycle, and was out of sight.

I didn't realize it at the time, but our journey into town was completely up hill. I was trying to have a conversation with my driver (despite his strong body odor), when I finally had to say, "I will not talk, so you can breathe."

Poor guy.

I probably could have walked up that hill faster than he pumped me, but it was definitely an experience.

When we arrived at the "restaurant," he asked for more money than a boda usually is, and I was MORE than happy to give it to him. He definitely earned it.

I kept thinking to myself, "Why does he wait for riders at the BOTTOM OF A HILL?"

Oh well.

We entered in Christ the King Catholic Church's restaurant (yes, you read that correctly), and there were tables covered with plastic table cloths, plastic flower arrangements, and place mats. Boy, I never knew what a restaurant could do for the soul.

We ordered two Krest Bitter Lemon drinks (Coca-Cola distributes them, but I'm pretty sure they are not sold in the US). Yum! And I tried my first samosa. That is NOT a drink. It is a pastry of sorts. You can get beef, veggie, or potato and it will be wrapped inside the pastry before it is deep fried.

Also yummy!

People were coming in and ordering late lunches and watching soccer on the television, and I had to remind myself I was in Africa. It was quite the escape for me. I can't wait to take Doug and the kids.

Kelli assures me there are other places in town to go to escape, so I look forward to their discovery.

Thanks, Kelli, for two discoveries today: Christ the King Church and the Chinese supermarket.

I went to see him

Doug has been a big hit out at Awindirii Baptist Church.

He's the "new guy."

He texted me last night and told me he was the "entertainment," which probably means everyone sat around staring at him.

At first, he said he was glad that it was dark, and then his next text said that our friend had hung up a light, which revealed a topless, nursing mom.

Good times!

He texted this morning to say his stomach was well. They were served three kinds of sweet potatoes, beans, enya, and something else he couldn't identify.

He texted that he slept ok, and that wearing earphones to block out noises helped.

It was important for the people at the meeting to meet the wives that weren't there, so Pam and I drove out with the kids this afternoon to meet everyone, and we stayed a little over two hours.

There were several women with children there. One woman had twins that were maybe two months old. I'm sure that church is quite noisy at night. Keep Doug in your prayers for tonight, too.

He texted me a little while ago to say that dinner was being served (it was after 9 when he texted). The menu was enya, beans, and "the little fish." We've seen these dried fish in the market, but neither of us has ventured to eat one yet, so I'm hoping he can avoid them. They have an interesting smell and look to them.

Discipleship at the meeting has sort of been suspended, and the topic Doug was going to teach on has been cancelled. It turns out they are getting to some real heart issues with the people, like...salvation!

Apparently, many of the members of each congregation just attends church but they have never made a personal decision to follow Christ. Anyone?

So...it looks like the Gospel might be the subject of the evening. Pray.

Thanks, but I'll pass this time

Too bad Doug doesn't write this blog. He has been invited to have a very African experience. I might have to let him guest write here, or just copy what he writes on his blog.

Anyway, starting now (4:30pm on Wednesday), he has left to join some believers at Awindirii Baptist Church in Arua. Three congregations of churches are meeting there until Friday morning! They are doing extensive Bible study, prayer, and training. This is continuous mind you. He will not be coming home.

Doug will be sleeping on the ground in the church with no mosquito net, and he was told to bring his own pillow, which he declined (because of dirt). Anyway, he took a towel and a backpack for his head, a Massai blanket to cover with, and he will be shown how to have a bucket bath/shower sometime tonight.

I'm sure they will be eating enya (which is ground millet), and Doug took his own water bottle to be safe. I wish I could have fed him a big steak dinner before he left, but maybe he'll learn to like enya :)

Be in prayer for the training and for Doug.

And by the way, Kylie made a recovery yesterday afternoon. She started asking for food, and she had enough strength by the end of the day to join us at the dinner table for the first time in a few days. Praise God!

Giardia (or something) strikes again

For those of you who only read the blog, I wanted to let you know that Caleb and Karis were correctly diagnosed as having Giardia. We went to the local pharmacy, and it only took two trips to get the right medication. Two bottles cost around $2.50 total!!

Anyway, within hours of taking the first dose, they were better. Praise the Lord!

A nurse in Kenya, upon hearing of our plight, has gotten a medical kit of sorts, together for us of things we might need here in Arua, and she is sending it by way of other people. Again, Praise God!

Two days after Caleb and Karis finished their medicine, Kylie woke in the middle of the night with a fever.

She was on the couch all day Friday, but with only a small fever. If the fever spiked, I was supposed to check for malaria, but it never did.

Saturday, she started vomiting a little, and by Sunday, she couldn't keep anything down.

Sunday night, we decided to start the treatment for Giardia, just in case, because it is so contagious (and travels in water). She threw up a few hours after taking it, but maybe some remained in her.

Today (Monday), she hasn't eaten much, but when she has, she has thrown it up. I put her to bed, and up came her tiny dinner. So, she is now in-between Doug and I until I can get her sheets cleaned and hung out in the sun tomorrow to dry.

Please pray that we will discover what she has, that it will go away, or that the medicine we are giving her will treat it.

Sorry for all the "sick" stories. Better ones are coming.


When I download my most recent pictures, I will show you a picture of Caleb with half a hair cut. Doug started using the electric clippers Saturday night on Caleb. He got the back and sides done, and he had just taken a swipe down the middle (reverse mohawk), when the electricity went out around 5pm. It was a fun evening eating dinner while looking at Caleb's hairdo.

Doug fixed it the next morning before church, but it would have been appropriate to leave it. Caleb went on his first motorcycle taxi, and he got to ride in the front. (A reverse mo-hawk would have been cool, right? :)

Doug took Caleb and Karis to church because I was home with Kylie. All three of them got on one "piki piki" (motorcycle taxi). Caleb was in front of the driver, and Karis sat between Doug and the driver.

I wish I had a picture of that.

I also wish I had a picture of the time Kylie and I took a piki to town to get the giardia medicine. Women ride side saddle on the back of the motorcycle, and Kylie was just on my lap holding on to me, while I had one hand on the back of the bike, and one hand gripping my market bag.

It's a wonder there aren't more accidents (or deaths).

New things

I have a new clothes line. That's a story.

The holes were dug, the poles ordered and welded, and then nothing.

After 2 days, I said, "Why are the poles not up?"

My house worker said they needed rocks to mix with the cement.

I asked her where they could be purchased, and she said, "Just over there."

I went to the watchman, and said, "I hear you need rocks." He said, "Yes, I will price them and then get them in a wheelbarrow."

That afternoon, Doug and I secured a wheelbarrow. When we returned, we walked in the gate, and there was my watchman, with a wheelbarrow WITH rocks.

I said, "Where did you get the rocks?"

He said, "There were some behind your wall, and I had a wheelbarrow here."

Communication is going to be fun! I waited two days for rocks, when apparently, there were some behind my wall.

***I also wanted you to know, I finally uploaded a video of some of the wedding music. It is short, but it will give you an idea. It took over an hour to upload, so I'm feeling very proud.

***New things #3: Doug looked in the "Where there is no Doctor" book for Africa, and I believe he has diagnosed the kids appropriately. They have Giardia. Now we have a place to start.