Attempt 3

Hello everyone,

It seems like time here has a different feel to it than time back home. While we know that the Lord exists outside our everyday perception of time, when coming from the west it seem as if Uganda and nearly all of Africa also operate on their own definition of time. Obviously I haven't been here long enough fully understand to what extent the time back home and time here are different. Unfortunately, I have begun to grasp the fundamentals and it's very easy to become more relaxed and forget that you need to "keep time." With that said I'll get to the point of my paragraph, I'm sorry for the length of time between posts. Days here all seem to run together into one long continuous string of events, it seems like I'm always taking my malaria medication, in reality it's a once a day tablet. That's just an example of how things move along here, but onto the actual post.

I'll begin by thanking the Lord for His guidance and provision during this uneasy time in Uganda. While in the U.S. we are no strangers to the "war on terror" and the harsh reality of what man is capable of doing to their fellow man, I've never been as close to it as I was a week ago. Granted where I am and where the blasts occurred are worlds apart in terms of population and political significance, it was still only two Ugandan hours away.

Now, this is the point where I've struggled on my last three post attempts, what's next?

Being here is so completely different than anything I've ever experienced let alone tried to convey to someone else through words. The events that took place a week ago stirred many emotions throughout the country, the people, the government, everyone and everything had an opinion, comment, or some other way of conveying it. I suppose in a sense this is my outlet. My specific feeling was a mixture of sadness and something that resembled anger. It's hard to describe, mostly because the position I'm in here is still very new and in itself hard to describe. Maybe I'll be able to write more about it in a different post, but now for the sake of finishing this post and actually posting it I'll let that be the end.

Hopefully the power is decent this week so I can write about the things I've been doing and fill all of you in on the details. Until then, please pray for Uganda and how the Lord is using the death of 74 of His children. Also please pray the the Lord gives me guidance as I set/write my term finals. I hope all is well in the States and I miss you all very much!

God Bless,

Andrew

Definitely Not North Dakota

Happy July!

While it may not be Independence Day yet I feel compelled to wish you all a Happy 4th! I would like give my portion of our family fireworks display to Phillip, I know you'll put them to the best use. Being in Uganda brings to mind the "joke" about whether or not other nations have a 4th of July. I never really thought I would be in a situation where that would be aplicable, now it is. Unfortunately I will greatly miss all those things associated with our country's independence, fortunately, I can look forward to making up for it next year! Well that's enough about what I'm going to miss, back to what's happening on this side of the world.

Everyday I learn new things, and everyday there are multiple cultural differences that cause me to laugh a little to myself. This week's most evident and surprising is the "stapling machine." Yes, in all respects it is identical in purpose and function to any stapler, the only difference is geographical location. While it may not seem like much of a difference and definitely not something to laugh about let alone write about. It was and is to me one of those things that struck me as interesting. The names for many things here take on a much different and more descriptive direction. I honestly looked up the definition of a machine and stapling machine is quite accurate. Be that as it may I still have to stifle a chuckle every time I hear it!

Another interesting occurrence this week was the discovery of the shed skin from a python. That sentence along definitely doesn't make it seem like it was much of an occasion, but the picture speaks for itself. After taking that picture I measured the skin and it was about 9'2" long meaning, from what I understand, the snake is somewhere from 12-14' long. Granted that's just an estimate but it's still quite humbling to think that somewhere in bush surrounding our school there's a snake that's quite capable of swallowing me. With that said, please don't worry. I wrote about it to express another difference between North Dakota and Uganda, definitely not to cause anyone to fear for my life. Seeing a snake that size is very rare and not at all something to be concerned about!

Well that appears to be all I have for today. Once again thank you for your prayers, I couldn't be doing this with out them. Please continue to pray for me as today is moving day for me. Because of the constant shifting of personnel I'm being moved to a family's guest house or banda. The move itself won't be very stressful but it causes me to almost start the relationship building process over again which is that hardest part here. Please pray God continues to give me wisdom and strength. Thank you all for everything and Happy Independence Day!

God Bless,

Andrew