Mulembe! (Hello!) Greetings to you from Mbale, Uganda! I have been here for a little over a week, but it feels like a lot longer. It was a long journey from Minnesota, two full days of travel and a day of driving to Mbale, but I arrived Monday evening the 20th safely.  It was a beautiful journey and gave me time to think and soak up my surroundings and the fact that I am actually here!

My time so far has been filled with adjusting and beginning time at the M:MM office. The staff have greeted me very warmly, and I am so excited to learn from them this year and become more and more involved as time goes on. Something I love that the staff does is a devotional every morning, after taking tea of course. I'm learning that every time is tea time, and have averaged 2-3 cups a day. But I have loved getting in the Word with the staff and sharing and hearing their insights. We pray as a staff every day as well, sharing praises or "testimonies" and prayer requests. One thing I didn't realize or think about until coming here is that people pray about or for rain every day here; whether they need it to come or to hold off so that they may plant their gardens. People come to God with everything each and every day, and rely on Him and trust Him to provide.

I think I could write and write about things I've done, seen or learned but will make a list of observations (some on the lighter side and some more insightful-well, I hope!)

-"Now" doesn't usually mean "now" and "soon" is very relative, depending on who you are speaking to. I've learned that I usually have more time than I think, and I'm hopeful this will give me more time to converse with those around me, and to not feel like any time is "wasted.”Because of this, we are often “chasing time”or “time is really running”

-I am coming from a very individualistic and performance based society, and this has been hard to mesh with a relational society on days when I feel like I haven't "done" anything. This is also a struggle for me, as much of my identity is wrapped up in doing things for others

-I am learning a lot about humility and grace, as I am used to doing things for myself and am at a place where I depend a lot on others. I also need to give myself and others grace as I adjust (and probably make many blunders) to the culture akround me and get more into my role at M:MM

-I need to celebrate the little victories-like learning to say, “I am glad to see you” (but need to be careful not to say it slightly different, or I will tell someone that I have urinated on them!)

-Ugandans are incredibly hard working, and there is not a lot of time set aside for rest or fun, so you enjoy those around you and soak up time and conversation with them

-Laughter should be easy. I have been surrounded by a lot of laughter, and even though I am not always sure what people are saying, I love listening to them laugh

Papa Sam making chapatti; I have enjoyed spending time cooking with him and Anne talking, laughing and singing. Sam has a“chapatti song”that he sings that means “Jesus has called me to serve Him”and says that even in making chapatti, he is serving the Lord. While this may seem like a stretch to some, I really admire this mindset and hope to think this way as well

Here I am making chapatti (I am covered in flour but you just can't see!) Not pictured: me helping to “prepare”(dissect) the chicken for dinner. They tell me that I am an African now, and that next time I will help with the slaughter. When in Africa!

This was taken at Bulago-the hometown of Ronald, who is on staff here. The last Friday of every month, the staff fasts and spends extended time in the Word and prayer, while visiting the home of one of the staff members, getting a tour and checking that all “14 points of a healthy home”(a major directive of M:MM) are in place. This place was beautiful up in the hills, and I was overcome with the glory of God and thankful to worship together

On Waiting

The past few weeks have been very different from what I was planning. My departure date for Uganda was to be January 11th. Life leading up to that time was filled with excitement, anxiety, some fear, happiness-many things; it was a rollercoaster of emotions that I was not quite prepared for. For over a year now, I've been dealing with abdominal pain that hasn't been explained fully-I've had many tests done and told that I have IBS, as this is a diagnosis of exclusion and my tests have come back "normal." In the few weeks before my departure, my pain got increasingly worse, and was worse than it had ever been. It was hard for me to discern if it was from stress, or something else. My family (especially my parents!) were uneasy about me jetting off to another continent with worsened and unexplained pain. They advised me to call my doctor, just to see what else I could do. I did, and was told that I should have some additional testing done, to diagnose or rule anything else out. Completing the tests meant that I would have to delay my departure. I made the difficult decision to stay, and had 3 more tests done, and was started on some new medicine. The tests came back normal, which is a major praise! It was really hard for me to decide to stay a little longer, because going to Uganda has been my dream for four years, and to me it felt like now or never. However, I am glad that I can go to Uganda now with peace of mind, and can jump into life there without fear of this pain that I have. I knew that God had a purpose for this time, even if it felt like giant steps backwards.

I have had to be honest about what I've been thinking and feeling in this time. I have been angry at God because I felt like he was taking my dream from me; it felt unfair. I felt confusion about the timing-I have always been healthy, and why right before this dream He's given me coming true, do I have pain? I have felt a bit lost at sea-what am I supposed to do now? But, there has been a lot of good too. I have seen some friends and loved ones that I wouldn't have had the chance to before. My disappointment has been a further confirmation of my desire to go. I am very antsy! I have been able to keep in touch with Sam at M:MM and he has encouraged me that it will all work out in God's timing, which is perfect. I have been able to see that often times, I turn to fear when unexpected things happen. It has shown me that nothing is guaranteed, but God is present and He is faithful. Even if it hasn't always felt like it, I know that God sees me and cares for me. He is my Healer. He does work all things together for good. I don't understand why this delay has happened, but I trust that God will continue showing it to me. I want to follow God like a child holding her Father's hand.

I am still incredibly excited for the opportunity to go to Uganda, and learn from His people there! I am now going to be leaving on February 18th. I am counting down the days! I pray that I would be present where I am, and make the most of this time. I pray that I would be present when I am in Uganda, and will be a sponge, soaking up all the goodness that God has for me there. I saw a phrase online somewhere "Grow where you're planted." It may be cheesy, but it resonated with me. I don't want to waste time waiting for "my adventure to begin" because God has me here, and He will bring me there. But He is everywhere, and nothing is wasted for Him. I am excited to be in Uganda, and one thing I know-it is worth the wait.

Another bonus of waiting-getting to spend time with our new kitty-Jet

 Spending time with friend Lisa at the St. Paul winter carnival