Home in America

We have been home now for just over a week. It was such a bittersweet experience to end our travels and head back to our "real lives." (and it was quite the trip home with too many layovers, delays, and 50 hours with only a few cat naps for sleep. Honestly, it was rather miserable and exhausting but we are now looking at is as one more adventure and memory from our trip...;-)

We have caught up on sleep and are settling into our new normal, which we're hoping will only be our normal for a few months, but more on that another time. (-: Right now, we are continuing to process our experience and praying for guidance from the Lord on our next step. He is teaching us patience, faithfulness, and trust, trust, TRUST.

Next post will be a more thorough follow-up to our trip, but for now I will leave you with a little gem from our time at the Bible School. This was my joy everyday after an exhausting day of being stretched. It brings tears to my eyes as I watch. Aren't they amazing???
-Naomi

Goodbye Uganda!

The sun's reflection is gleaming off lake Victoria as we begin our ascent. It is stunning. Andrew and I say our goodbyes to the country and some of the people who are forever imprinted in our hearts and minds. We think may return someday, sooner rather than later if God enables us to adopt from Uganda (an even bigger dream and prayer of mine now!) But we really don't know what will happen in the next few years. We have a great deal of question marks in our future but we are thankful to know that we have each other and an amazing, loving, gracious father who is teaching and guiding us.

Here are some shots from our final walk through a neighborhood market in Kampala. We will miss this place! 

Matoke! There is so much of this stuff in Uganda! It looks like a banana but it is cooked and mashed into this  chunk of starch that doesn't have much flavor but is used as a base for other sauces.

      

We are going to miss the fresh pineapples, mango, and banana so much! The fruit here is incredible!

The market 

Meat hanging for sale

Anyone want chicken for dinner? 

View of a Kampala neighborhood 

Palm trees in the Turners yard 

My name is more popular in other countries than the US. It is a brand for body care producs here and baby's lotion! 

Saying goodbye to the Turners. They were wonderful and helped us learn so much about Uganda and the many needs here

                       On our way to the airport, one last boda driver with amazing balance! 

T.I.A.

On lake Edward (or was it Albert? It was one of those British guys) This pic has nothing to do with the post except to say, hey, here we are alive and well in Uganda ;-)

Naomi tried to assure me that it was perfectly normal for the Matatu "taxi" we were on (a small minivan crammed, as a rule, with 16 or more sweaty commuters) to suddenly go off-roading through a village neighborhood to beat the traffic on the main highway. I'm talking 45 kph down steep declines, through pot-holes that put your stomach in your throat, barely squeezing through the shanty homes on either side, and an assortment of livestock miraculously darting out of the way as we blast through the dirt trail. Needless to say, despite Naomi's attempts to reassure me, I still remain skeptical. "T.I.A." she would tell me - there's a movie called Blood Diamond that came out a while back, set in Africa, where, when after something absurd would happen, the characters would tell each other "t.i.a." (This is Africa). We found ourselves either thinking or saying this to each other quite often during our time here. Today we saw a large pickup with a couple farmers, two bulls, some goats, chickens and some maize crammed in the back. T.I.A.

Driving through Kampala, we got to see things that showed us a different side of the beauty of God's creation, and other things that made us crack up (like the way people unashamedly advertise their religion through their businesses - we passed a "God's Plan Supermarket" and a "Jehovah Jirah Hardware Store"), and some things that took us totally by surprise. One of the things that I wasn't expecting was the amazing number of ministries that have already been established here in Uganda. It seemed like around every corner there was either a church plant, a clinic, a children's home, or a Bible school. I was told in the states that there is a huge need in Africa for pastoral training, and with the huge number of horror stories of false teaching here and the damage it has caused in the church and in people's lives, I definitely believe that to be true. What I couldn't put together was how there could be such a great need for pastoral training here in Africa, while at the same time there are so many Bible schools and other venues available for pastors to get trained.

Here's what I've learned: Africa does not have a great need for pastoral training. Africa has a great need for EFFECTIVE pastoral training. So many pastors go through these schools or seminars or conferences, put on by ministry leaders with good intentions, and funded by churches and individuals with good hearts, and God can work through them in awesome ways. However, we need to ask ourselves why so much of the African church is vulnerable to false teaching and the prosperity gospel. We need to ask why so many of the pastors who attend these schools, seminars, and conferences remain unchanged.

I am still very new here, and I don't presume to have all or any of the answers, and I don't want to dismiss the work that God is doing through the different ministries here in Uganda. But one thing I've begun to pick up on is that for a lasting change of heart, substantial growth of character, and practical skills in ministry to take place in the lives of these pastors, long term discipleship MUST be a part of the equation. This goal cannot be achieved in the span of a week-long conference or even a few years in Bible classes. Without long-term, personal discipleship, we are not preparing anyone for ministry. Naomi and I feel that God has put a burden on our hearts for pastoral training here in Africa. Please pray for us as we seek to be a part of the solution in the most effective way possible. Sometimes thinking about all the challenges to this task can be overwhelming, but it is such an encouragement that Jesus promises us that it is he who will build his Church.

So many things here continue to surprise us. Hopefully soon we will be surprised by how God has used our flawed plans and efforts to bring forth his Gospel. And some day, darting through a sea of cars on a boda-boda motorcycle, we'll look back and see how God has transformed this place of darkness into a land that reflects his Kingdom.

Andrew

This is a short clip of the driving in Kampala...doesn't do the craziness justice, but it will give you a small picture(-:

Marriage and Girls Group

The morning call to prayer just finished and I sit here thinking, processing, and pondering these last few days...they have been much slower than our previous week but have also given us more time to talk about and think through where we feel God is leading us when we return home. This trip has been very unifying for our marriage. We were a little afraid that we would feel pulled in two different directions, but we don't. We can tell people are praying for our marriage while we are here because it has been such a sweet time of growing together and growing in the Lord. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for praying for us, we feel so blessed. 

Yesterday we visited another Bible School, but this one in Kampala and very different than the rural one we worked at in Kiburara. It had a beautiful campus and looked like a school in America! The Turners wanted us to see the other side of the spectrum as far as Bible Schools go. I also was privileged to join Debbie at her discipleship group where she disciples a number of gals from the University here. I shared my testimony on where God had taken me as I waited for the right man and how Andrew and I finally ended up together. I encouraged them to wait for a Godly man who they want to partner with for the sake of the gospel. It was such a blessing to see these young women who were so hungry for truth and soaking up the wisdom Debbie was teaching from the Bible. I loved it! I can't wait for Tuesday group next week!

~The gals as we memorize scripture~