Home.

I'm sure you all have heard about what happened in Kampala. The only American who died in the explosion was Nate Henn, a former Invisible Children employee who, like me, went to Uganda early before joining the Invisible Children trip. Because of this, IC cancelled the trip. With everyone worried, I just decided to come home. It stunk to have to end my trip so abruptly and without getting to say bye to everyone (including the kids at Tegot). Still, strangely enough, I am very aware that God is in this. He's already using Nate's death in powerful ways. Just go to natehenn.com.
I had a really good journey home. Your prayers mean more to me than I could express. I know God listened. Keep looking for pictures on Facebook and what not. If you want to hear more about my trip, we'll get together for coffee... or African tea ;)

Chickens galore

The mothers told us they were going to give us chickens as goodbye gifts, and they were not kidding. They did not understand that you can't take them back to America. It's a huge sign of respect in their culture- so humbling. Today I got a chicken with its legs and wings tied. I'm glad PETA and Jomby both were'nt there to see it.
I have been thinking about "praise reports" for this trip and have to praise God for the health of our team. I was sick one day and that's it. I am usually really sensitive to motion sickness, and even though the roads here are terrible, I have not felt sick at all.
Cheryl and Ashley are leaving tomorrow. I will spend this next week with ECM continuing the same work, then meet up with Invisible Children. Be home on the 26th, just in case you were wondering. :)

misc.

Hey! I’m sure for a long time I’ll be remembering things I forgot to write about.
We’ve been having a lot of problems with our car. The other day while driving on a narrow walking path in the bush, we got a flat tire. Now it’s dead. We don’t know what we’re going to do or how we’re going to afford to get to Tegot without the car. Anyway, the day the car broke down, I asked one of the sponsored kids’ mothers if I could help her cook. It seems like all we do is to eat, because eating is so central to African culture. The Acholi will feel ashamed and worried if they let you leave their house without eating. “We love you! Eat more!” my neighbors always say, no matter how full I am. There is no telling how many pounds (or kg, rather) of rice and beans I have ingested while being here. Anyway, the mother told me I could help her grind seeds to make a paste called odi. Imagine picking peanuts, roasting them on your own, and putting them on a stone surface to hand-grind them with a stone, just to make a plate of peanut butter. It was hard work, and provided a lot of laughs for the women. They appreciated my wanting to learn from them and said I should stay longer so they could teach me how to be a real Acholi woman. This does not appeal to me. I have definitely taken for granted the fact that I can buy food already made.. or at least already picked or killed. The feeling of wasting time is one of the worst ones in the world for me but a virtually foreign feeling to most Africans.
It’s good to be here, because I am learning the reality of missions in a third world country. I know I have long romanticized it, and I know many people who do too. Being here is not sexy. Being one of a few mzungus can make you feel alienated and withdrawn. So you constantly have to keep your head and remember your purpose here. And be sure of your purpose before coming.
Keep praying. I have a week b/w the time that I go with Invisible Children and I’m not sure how I will spend it. I need direction. Also, the other day I saw a man sitting on the street without fingers or toes. I often see people missing limbs who have to use crutches the rest of their lives. It makes me so angry at the LRA. We must keep praying for all of this. These people are our brothers and sisters. It’s so good that people are moving back home and there are no more camps. The health and morale have improved drastically. People are no longer in survival mode, so they can start to enjoy each other.
Other funny things: trying to get an Acholi to pronounce “euphemism.” Also, don’t call someone silly here, because that is a horrible insult. Stubborn is the right word.

4th of July in Uganda

Yesterday we had a munu bbq at the Foresters (American missionary friends). We even invited the Canadians. Haha :). Since fireworks are taboo here, to celebrate our indepenence, we had to get creative. So we got the little glowy bracelets and people took turns entertaining with light shows to the beat of an African drum. It was hilarious, especially when I thought about what we were actually doing.
Lately the Lord's been doing something in me that i haven't expected. I've had a lot of pride in my heart, and He's chosen this trip to deal with it. Any problem you have will be magnified when you're doing ministry. I have to learn not to say anything when I think Im right. Maybe someday I will realize i'm not always right. Please pray we can get through this and the Lord will simultaneously send some verbal affirmation into my life.
At Saturday club yesterday we taught 250 children about Jesus' kindness and goodness by feeding the multitudes then fed every one of them. Several gave their lives to Christ. It was really special for me to get to hear the young ones crying out to Jesus on their own (we did not get them to repeat a prayer after us).
Lastly, some funny things in Acholi culture that have caused some laughs:
1. Time is measured in 12 hour increments, starting at 7 am. So both 7 am and pm are called Acel, or one in Acholi.
2. They differentiate body parts much differently than we do. It took me several days to figure out why they used the same word for leg and foot and toes. Hahaha.
3. Many Ugandans sincerely believe that the American government only allows its citizens to have 2 children. People here have around 7 children usually.
K time's up. :)

Love breaking out

Let's see if i can post a decent blog in the 10 minutes left on my internet cafe time.
The main subject on my mind is love. On Saturday I spent much of the day holding a deaf girl in Tegot. Here deafness can be seen as a curse or bad luck. Holding her was a delight. Ashley has been here for 6 months, and she testifies that 5 months ago this little girl would not even come near anyone. Now she smiles, hugs, everything. Maybe someday she will hear. Pray for her. :)
Today we went into the straight up BUSH (aka the boone-docks of Africa) to meet with the mothers of the sponsored children. The women here are so strong, so dignified. They work very hard in the fields, and unsurprisingly, that makes their hands very rough. Cheryl had an idea to make giftbags of lotion and soap that had been given to her. We did a devo about hands, and all the Lord can allow us to use our hands for. Then I talked about Jesus showing His love by washing His disciples feet. Then we showed the same love by massaging each woman's hands, working the lotion into them to make them soft. Simon, the director, even washed one of the women's feet, and she made a high-pitched shriek of excitement. The whole thing was so humanizing. At that moment I was not a missionary or a teacher or a mzungu (none of which are bad things)- I was simply their sister and friend in Christ.
John, I've been thinking about what you said about me now being the charismatic one. I agree, it's funny. Guys, remember, charistmatic or not, love is the most important thing. All other things flow from that. I don't know what God's doing, but I know that the people of Tegot can no longer say that they are forgotten.

Beauty in Suffering

It's hard to know what is important to write about, since there’s so much. So here I go..
First of all, I got to lead my first person to Christ two nights ago. I was sitting among our neighbors under only the bright light of the moon, with little Lukwia (a precious, spunky 5-year old boy) in my arms. A man sitting among us read a poster we had made with some verses in Acholi and said to me, "I want to be born again. I am a drunk." So we talked about how Jesus can come into his heart and make him a new man, and he can start his new life with Jesus now. We prayed together for this to happen. Then I told him his kids need him to be a good dad, and God can teach him how to be that. It is a common place here for men to sit around and get drunk while the women do everything. All the farming and digging and cooking, all the child-rearing, everything. The men need to be discipled. Though here there are nonprofits on every corner, there is a huge need for discipleship in general. Many pastors barely know the Bible and tell their congregations off-the-wall, false things. Pray that the Truth of God abounds.
Yesterday we went into Tegot, the area all of ECM’s ministry here is focused. The area has been hit hard by the LRA. We went into a hut and encouraged the mothers of ECM’s sponsored children, told testimonies, and read the Word. One woman told how one night when the LRA raided her village, she started praying fervently to the Lord. They missed only her hut. Many of them told how their suffering brought them to the Lord. These are important things for us to realize. Still no healings. I prayed for a woman whose feet had been maimed by a land mine. That happens a lot here. After we prayed, she told me she is blessed by ECM coming to teach her and her children about Jesus since she cannot reach a church to “offer her prayers.”
The kids are wonderful and hilarious. I am trying hard to get them to call me Ellie rather than munu or mzungu. They’re just so amazed to have contact with a white person. We have been teaching them the Word through short Bible lessons, skits, and singing songs. We’re trying to help the staff learn how to teach in a way where the kids really understand, rather than just repeat things, a method standard in Ugandan education. I also did first aid for the first time today. The kids had some pretty nasty sores, but they should heal really well with the help of some washing, hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin, and bandages. Apparently people here respond to medicine very well since they have it so sparingly. Their immune systems are amazing too.
It’s also really interesting to be around people who don’t hug. They are affectionate people, but they show it through holding hands. I’m learning Acholi steadily. The people are so delighted and surprised at my desire to learn their language. I guess I’ll have to come back, because I can’t use the language anywhere except northern Uganda and southern Sudan. Haha!
I don’t feel like I’m doing a lot here. The Ugandan staff, fortunately, would probably fare well without us. Everything has to be translated anyway. However, I’m learning about doing small things with great love, and glorifying God with everything I do.
That’s all for now. Feel free to ask me any questions. :-)

Too much to say!

Hi everyone! Turns out that even the places that do have internet are really unreliable, so I might be able to update this once a week. It took 5 days total to get here. We have only done one real day of ministry so far. This is not like a normal mission trip where the days are jam-packed. Rather, we're living the life of real missionaries on the field. There are so many more problems here than I even realized, and the spiritual situation is more bleak than I had been told. The effects of the war are evident. The parents hardly tell or show their kids they love them, and we suspect it's because they want to remain detached from them in fear of their children dying. Many kids don't know what you're doing when you try to hug them. But they will grab your hand when you're walking and walk with you anywhere. It's adorable. We live in the middle of a village, which is great b/c we're making relationships with the people in the village rather than creating distance by staying in a hotel. Several of the kids have gotten saved already. There is a language barrier with the younger children because they don't start learning English until they're in about 4th grade. But the kids know we love them, and with kids there doesn't have to be much verbal communication. People here talk with their eyes and lift their eyebrows rather than saying yes. I've already started doing that. I never realized child sacrifice was such a problem up here. Most of the kids have sticks through their ears b/c that "defiles" them to where the witch doctors don't want them anymore. Virtually every child I have seen has a huge belly, either b/c of malnutrition or worms. It's so awesome to come alongside the Ugandan staff of ECM and support them in what they're doing. B/c of ECM these kids are loved, fed, and taught the Gospel, which would not happen regularly. Some things I've learned are that it's absurd to think the solution to Uganda lies within what we can do; the transformation of communities will only come through the Gospel. Also, if you can't share the Gospel in your own community, don't expect to do missions. The cultural differences make it even harder. So start now. Even when I speak the words I know in Acholi, they often can't understand the way I pronounce things, or make fun of me for the way I pronounce them. It's actually kind of fun. I wonder if you would live the way you do if you had suffering in your face. I dare say we would probably cut out our Starbucks. Or we would just turn our faces. You can even do that here. But certainly the suburbs are a dangerous place to be, away from the suffering. I'm still pondering this. I worry at the thought of coming home and how I will deal with the way of life of Americans (including me). No one has been healed yet but loving is the greater command. I love you guys. Please pray for the people here. We have not used our time like we could b/c of things we can't help. Please pray God gives us tons of opportunities that we don't even imagine. That His spirit would lead us on who to talk to and who to give to. That He would bring an understanding of the love of God to these people. That my heart would remain soft and not desensitized. I love you guys. Thank you.