My first few days in Uganda

During my time in Uganda I kept a daily journal and I'm putting excerpts of it with pictures to help you get an idea of what my trip is like. Here's a few things to keep in mind. Some of this is stream of consciousness writting and isn't all clearly laid out (logically and gramatically, though I do my best). At some point I went from journaling in the morning to journaling in the evening so the dates might fluctuate but it's all here. Also, my journal is a mix of my memories of the day, an evaluation of the things I saw, and talking with God about it. So you'll notice a bit of all of these in my writings. Also, I've interspersed a few pictures.

1/18 En Route to Uganda – Wow.
It was sad and hard saying goodbye to Wesley and Hillary. It is strange to imagine three weeks gone – especially seeing him grow, helping Hillary out, sharing life with her and getting her feedback and encouragement. Flying out of Boston and looking at the city I am reminded of how big it is. And this is just Boston. We’re crossing oceans, flying over millions of lives and so many perish apart from you God. Wow – Lord, then to consider your immensity as the giver and sustainer of all life. Reading about knowing you intimately, it is stunning, almost hard to believe. Lord, draw me to you… can’t sleep – yikes… stayed up too long? Watching an action movie = bad idea. Negative 74 degrees outside the plane, is that with wind chill? Hahaha. Lord, even if I can’t sleep, I rest myself in thee.

*Schipol Airport, Amsterdam - below. There was this neat European feel that came out in the design, furnishings, stores etcetera, but there is still the ubiquitious McDonalds.

1/20 (lost time in travel)
It is Wednesday morning in Uganda and we are at Henry’s compound. (Henry is Dr. Henry Krabendam a close friend and mentor to my Sr. Pastor Al Baker. Henry has been involved in Uganda for at least 25 years and has a home there since he is there frequently. Dr. K or Dr. Henry as he is called by many Ugandans was a pastor for a while and then a professor at a Christian college teaching in areas like theology, bible, evangelism, apologetics and others.) It is beautiful here. I went to bed about 11 and slept till 8am. I was able to sleep about an hour or hour and a half on the first flight and about two on the second and then stayed awake until evening. On our second flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe Uganda, I woke up as we flew over the Alps. There were these majestic snowy peaks and tracts of cultivated land and concentrated towns deep in these valleys which crisscross the mountains. This was such a pleasant surprise. Then we flew of the Italian coast and the Mediterranean with amazing beaches. Finally we passed over the Libyan/Saharan deserts. This took hours. There were these wrinkles and pockmarks in the sand which reminded me of an old man’s face. I could also see various oases, it was all so vast. At the airport we met Rasheed, who is one of Henry’s business partners and manages his compound. We rode up to the compound in this land rover and it was necessary. The dirt road was full of ruts and we were bouncing all over the places. I wake up rested with birds calling and the sun gently pushing through the shades and there are a million shades of green dancing outside.

*Below is Henry's compound and the room Al and I slept in. The whole time we were there we slept under mosquito nets. One morning I found a mosquito had been under my net though the night - yikes!

1/21 It was a neat day yesterday. We (Henry, Al, and myself) had an afternoon of prayer with three Anglican Bishops, 2 archdeacons, a local Presbyterian pastor and a few other folks. The bishops have so many Christians in their dioceses, one has 400,000 people under his care – Wow. It wasa a privilege to spend tim with them, first talking and hearing about their burden for God’s work in their country and then praying together for your work in this world. This encouraged me. All of these men were saved from different backgrounds. One grew up in a pagan environment where his dad was a polygamist (polygamy used to be very common in Uganda, but is waning). Another of the bishops grew up in a Muslim family and was converted through his uncle who was a Christian. These are men who have had years of faithful ministry in difficult envirnments and I want to glean from them, but I’m not sure what to ask – or even if asking questions is the way that happens. We spend about 2½ in prayer after lunch and maybe 1½ hours after dinner. As we prayed I saw my unbelief and scoffing that God hears and acts. I need faith, conviction, new desires, the power of the Holy Spirit, and spirituality doesn’t come merely by association. God grow my faith, teach me to pray, lift me up, keep me from evil, help me to see your love in Christ and bless me with more of your Spirit. Fill me, or even just make me hungry. Protect me from the world, the flesh, and the devil, for you are worthy.
*Bishop Daniel from North Mbale Diocese on the left, then Al Baker, then Henry.

Many things don’t run on time here. Part of it is cultural (a focus on the event happening vs. the time it is supposed to happen) and some of it is technological (roads are bad, cars and taxis break down etc). Our time of prayer started late and through our time in Uganda we would joke around about things running on “Ugandan time” which could mean a half hour late to a few hours. One day we were supposed to be somewhere for lunch at 2pm (which we didn’t know), and we didn’t arrive until 4. But when we got there the food was on the table, and everyone was hanging out waiting for us. So there are some frustrating points when you’re trying to run a conference or get somewhere, but it is also really sweet when people aren’t as rushed and value down time together.

back...

It has been a just over a week now that I've been back in the US, and it has been wonderful to be home. Seeing my family was the best, telling people about the trip was number two, and after that there are so many little things: hot showers, sleeping in my bed, mexican food, not being sweatty, drinking tap water, having communion at church, reconnecting with friends. It was an amazing trip and here's what I'm going to do to tell you about it. I kept a daily journal, so I'm going to type it up, insert some photos and put it on my blog. Above is video of Christians in Soroti worshipping. We were training Christians in sharing their faith with others there would be times of singing and dancing between the times of teaching.

packing

When we were kids and our family was going on a trip my mom would set out a table somewhere in the house so we could lay out everything we needed to bring. While I am much less organized than my mom, I've got my own little table (first time ever) and am getting stuff ready for my tripe to Uganda. I'm leaving a week from yesterday (1/18) and will get back on Feb 6th. There is definitely a mix of excitement and nervousness. I'm nervous because I don't know what to expect and I'm excited for many, many reasons. As I was talking to people at church, they were encouraging me that you never know what to expect when you go to serve God. When you serve in less developed countries plans regularly change and you need to trust God that he will orchestrate things. I'm looking forward to how God will work in me throug trip and how he will use me in Uganda. Since I'm traveling next Monday (the day I normally blog), I won't be posting for the next three weeks, but when I get back I'll put as much as I can on the blog.

Christmas Extravaganza

Wesley loves tearing wrapping paper, as you can probably see. We've included a few shots of our vacation and a recent photo of him eating blueberries, which he loves. Coming home for Christmas is full of expectations. In some ways it was a great time at home, but it got off to a rough start. Wesley took about two days to adjust and his schedule threw off our plans for various fun outings, but eventually things got sorted out. Wesley had a great time with Nana and Pop (grandparents) and various other relatives. While we were away his teeth finally broke through, he became more vocal (lots of grunting), and more mobile (walking while you hold his hands). It was great to be away from work, but challenging to find a sense of balance and regularity over the holidays. I didn't check my email for a week which was so fun, but I missed doing the parts of my job that I love, and being at our church for our Christmas Eve service. We enjoyed being with folks at home and appreciated the help with Wesley but were glad to return to "normal" life. We've been back in CT almost a week and are getting into a rhythm, but that is going to be thrown off when I head to Uganda in less than two weeks - Wow. There is a lot happening between now and then and hopefully I don't forget anything major.

snow and looking back on 2009

Yesterday was thrown off a little because of the snow storm, but I had a much easier time due to a new addition to our family. No, we don't have Wesley out shoveling yet, but we do have a pretty sweet snow blower - it feels like a family member. I was able to do our driveway, sidewalks, a neighbor's drive way, and a long stretch of side walk in less time than it would have taken me to shovel just our snow. It's also much more fun. I'm still learning the fine points of snow blowing, but I am very glad to have one. Thanks mom!
Due to the snow church was cancelled yesterday, which was a bummer, but we still had our community groups and prayer meeting last night. At our prayer meeting we spent time looking back over 2009 and remembering all that God has done. Here are a few of the things that we have seen God do through prayer:
-provide a new worship location and office space (this has been huge!)
-continue bringing new people to church and working in their lives
-raise up leaders in the church
-heal one of our missionaries of a potential tumour
-provide a location and workers for our work in the inner city of Hartford
-grow and deepen our presence at the University of Hartford
-lead us in shifting the format for our youth meetings
-lead us to serving an Iraqi family in the area
It is exciting to look back at the past year and see all that has happened. It is good to celebrate what God has done, yet we continue to long for more.

finishing off a monster...

...book, that is. I've been reading through this book on the resurrection since the spring and I only have 20 pages left! One of my goals for 2009 was to develop a reading list so that I work through a variety of books focusing on different aspects of Christianity. Within this plan, I decided that I should read one academically oriented book that will challenge me intellectually and make me think in new ways. Well, 730 pages later I can definitely say that I've learned a lot, enjoyed the journey, but that it took a lot longer than I expected. Here's a sentence that I thought captures the purpose and main thrust of the book: "Historical argument alone cannot force anyone to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead; but historical argument is remarkably good at clearing away the undergrowth behind which scepticisms of various sorts have been hiding. The proposal that Jesus was bodily raised from the dead possesses unrivalled power to explain the historical data at the heart of early Christianity." Reading through this book has strengthened my faith in the reality of the resurrection and helped me better understand it's meaning and implications.
Something else that I've been seeing in different ways is that many people don't believe in Christianity because they don't want to. While this sounds obvious here's what I mean. When someone says, I don't buy Christianity because _______, there is usually an equally valid, or sometimes better, explanation of their difficulty which the person does not want to accept. For example, someone may say that he or she does not believe in a good God because of all the pain and suffering within this world. This person's interpretation of the pain and suffering in this world is leading him to a certain conclusion, while in fact there are many other conclusions that could be drawn from the pain and suffering in this world. We all want to hold onto our interpretations of reality and the obstacles to faith are more complex than the needing evidence or the right argument. I think dialogue, and persuasive reasoning have their part but there's more going on under the surface that needs to be dealt with as well.
As I think about my job and all the neat stuff I get to do - like reading great books, thinking about God, and helping people connect to him - I am deeply grateful for the place God has me in life.

recuperating, shots, and a long awesome day

Sometimes I don't feel up to writing. Normally I push through, but last week was one of those times when I didn't. Needless to say, we got back from Thanksgiving and had a generally fine holiday. Hillary was sick a good portion of the time and at points I missed being with my family, but it was good to be up in NY.

So here are a few different things going on with us:

Hillary is about 90% healthy while Wesley and I are feeling good. Getting extra sleep and having less demands on our schedule has been helpful. Our December calendar is pretty low key, since we don't have many church traditions or holiday parties, so we've been able to keep life at a moderate pace.

Last week I received four out of my five shots for going to Africa. My arms were a little sore, but it is much better than the alternative.

Last week I also had a long but wonderful day. It started with a prayer meeting earlier in the morning and ended with youth group in the night. I meet with other area youth leaders to plan for our annual mission called the Hartford Project, brainstormed in our staff meeting about the vision and direction of our church, counseled a college student about some decisions before him and helped a teen connect the bible to circumstances in this family. It was great.

Finally, Hillary and I are reading through the book you see pictured to the left. It is a series of reflections on Advent from Christian writers across the centuries. There are guys like St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and Johnathan Edwards mixed up with contemporary authors. It has been good to go through this different readings and talk about them together. Here's an amazing quote from John Donne, "The whole of Christ's life was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of the same day. From the creche to the cross is an inseparable line. Christmas only points forward to Good Friday and Easter. It can have no meaning apart from that, where the Son of God displayed his glory by his death."