Learning and leading

My friend/classmate/brother Amos has long had a passion for missions, and has wanted to see Uganda send missionaries to the field to preach the good news of Jesus.  At last, we are finally taking steps to bring this to fruition! We have sent two recent graduates, Caleb and Diana, to Nairobi for a year of training in missions.  They were back at UCU last week, and shared a bit of their experience.  

When I first saw Caleb, his eyes grew wide, and he told me, "I think I know how you feel being here... it's hard to be in a different culture.  You're trying to learn everything, and yet everyone expects you to be leading."

I was a bit amused by this; Kenya is just next door, and people here talk about being Africans (one people) more than they talk about being Ugandans.  Americans certainly do not share this kinship with Canadians, delightful though they are.  However, it's true that Kenyan culture is somewhat different from Ugandan.  It's been interesting to hear them share about the differences in food, dress, communication, how things work... all the things I comment on and deal with daily.

And yet, he's exactly right.  When I first returned to UCU as a lecturer, I had done quite a lot of my cultural training while I was here for two years as a seminary student.  But being staff was completely different.  My now-colleagues expected that I knew how things worked since I had recently graduated.  Students expected me to know how things worked since I had recently graduated.  I was painfully aware of how much I did not know, and yet I had to lead and pretend that I knew what I was doing.  Thankfully, God is gracious and He walked me through that first year gently.  Colleagues and students alike were kind and supportive (though the students still expected me to know way more than I did!).

I am still learning, though the leading is coming a bit easier.  After all, I am a lecturer.  I am also the archdeacon of our chapel, and the web mistress of the theology pages.  God's grace continues, and for that, I am perpetually grateful.

Library weeding

UCU's tagline is that it is the "centre of excellence in the heart of Africa."  One example of this is the Ham Mukasa Library, the huge building just up from the main gate, and where students flock to find resources for their courseworks.

However, the theology students are remaining with what was called the "old library," and I am trying to refer to it as the "theology library" in hopes of changing the perception that it is old, and therefore, of little value.  The building is old, that is true, and many of the volumes are also old, but theology has a library all to herself.  It is small, quiet, and other students use it as well.  All bachelor's students must take the five courses in Foundation Studies, which include Introduction to the Old Testament and Introduction to the New Testament, so the theology library gets plenty of use, even when we are off-session.

Since we are off-session, and since many of the volumes are old, and take up space (which precludes obtaining new volumes), one of the professors and I have been working with the theology library staff to weed out these old books.  We are being quite generous, and are automatically keeping volumes published since 1995, though we'd clearly prefer to be firmly in this century.  Professor and I then go through the pre-1995 volumes to determine which ones we want to retain, which to archive, and which go to the regional colleges.  They are getting the books of which we have copious numbers, and they are getting quite a load.

This is how one table looked at the beginning of our weeding:

Yes.  That is what we had to weed through from about five of those bookshelves (I couldn't get the entire bookcase in the frame).  

I am thrilled that we are doing this - it is long, long overdue.  Because of this, it's taking up much more time than we anticipated, but we are hoping and praying that by the time the theology students return in January, they will find a newly sorted library, with plenty of space to be filled with new acquisitions.

Holding great potential

With all the computer excitement of the last week, I forgot to report that my supervisor sent feedback on my proposal.  

I do have some work to do; there are some areas in which the committee felt things were not clear and some in which the explanations given were not sufficient. 

However - I am clinging to these two statements:  "This proposal holds great potential and should be welcomed," and "This study could make a positive contribution to the discipline of practical theology, and the Ugandan church in particular."  Hallelujah!!  I am so grateful for this encouragement.

Further computer drama took away yesterday's productivity, and I need to send an updated proposal to my supervisor by Friday so it can be presented again in November.  She indicated that if the changes I make are sufficient then I should be accepted into the program, and that "these are procedures to filter out those who cannot make it and refine what is already presented."

Please pray with me that this is so, and that I can provide the needed clarity to this proposal so I can move on with it.  I'm getting rather excited!

Grateful

Please join me in thanking the Lord for His provision!  My hard drive was indeed irreparably harmed; I think the tech guy said something like "it's dead, just like you said."  So, they installed a new hard drive, loaded my backed-up data (two weeks old, but it's something), and sent me on my merry way.  Thanks be to God, I even found my product key so that I could use my Microsoft products again.  I am one grateful missionary.

Apparently, I am also one memorable missionary.  While I was sitting in the waiting area, another one of the technicians came out and asked me if I was from UCU.  He just graduated in July, and played keyboards with one of the choirs, and he remembered seeing me in church.  We had a nice chat, and he invited me back to see what they were doing to the laptop, and even offered me coffee.

It's one thing to know that I'm quite visible on campus, but it's another thing to be recognized in Kampala in an entirely different context.  It's also a humorous, yet vital, reminder that people see, and remember, me, so I need to take care with my words and actions.  While I know that's remarkably obvious, I generally think of myself as a naturalized native, so I can forget that I stand out.  

Good news and bad news

First the good news: the serious rain the last two days seems to indicate that the rainy season has begun, which is wonderful. Please pray for the areas hat have not yet received rain yet, as they have planted, and the seeds are desperate for water. 

Now the bad news: my Mac has decided to not boot, and the Disk Utility cannot repair it. 

Back to hopefully good news: I did purchase an extended warranty, and there is an Apple-certified repair place in Kampala. 

Please pray that this can be resolved, both quickly and easily. While this has probably happened at the best time possible, it's really not terribly helpful. 

Receiving greetings

This week I've received several messages on different media from students past and present, which is always a joy.  They often contain some variation on "I've taken long without greeting you," which reminds me how important relationships are here.  

One call was from Nicholas, who was in the first class I taught.  Often, people make associations based on names; I've been told everything from "you are the one who follows me" (meaning that Jesca is that person's younger sister's name) "you are my auntie" (because that is an auntie's name), and my favorite, "you are my wife!" because that man's wife's name is Jesca.  I have to admit, that one was a bit harder to take!

So while trying to learn my students' names that first semester, I told Nicholas that he is my godson, because I have a godson in Virginia with the same name.  Actually, they are quite similar:  both of these young men are very bright, hard working, and most of all, love Jesus.  That I get to be in their lives is a tremendous joy and blessing.

Ugandan Nicholas graduated in July, and due to a number of circumstances far outside his control, is waiting to be ordained while his classmates are preparing for their ordinations in December.  I had heard that Nicholas would be ordained in February, and I have been planning to make the journey to the far north.  He is my surrogate godson, after all!

So Nicholas called yesterday just to say hello.  I told him that I heard he was going to be ordained in February, and when he said that he thinks the ordination will occur then, I told him to keep me posted, because I'm planning to come.  He was a bit surprised, then replied, "eh! Yes, you have to come, because I'm your godson."  

Yes, he is. 

Double blessing

In Africa, having visitors is everything.  Since I received my first visitor to Uganda in July, I've had a steady stream of visitors, which has been wonderful.  First, Dr Alison stayed with me for most of the All Clergy Conference, then my classmate Beatrice stayed with me the last night of the conference because she was locked out of her room (and we still don't know why). 

Then, about a week ago, SAMS president Stewart Wicker, the Chairman of the Board, Rev. Jeff Rawn, and his wife Cinde came for a short visit after the "Pathway to Global Vision" Mt. Kilimanjaro trek.  Though they were on campus just about 24 hours, it was such a joy to visit with them, share a bit of what my life is like here, and pray with them.  I know I don't talk about SAMS much, but this organization is staffed with people who are so fabulously supportive.  It is a tremendous comfort to know that my people are just a phone call or email away, and that they will do everything in their power to help me.  I have worked in organizations in which this is not the case, so working for SAMS is like a breath of fresh air.

These visitors have been the first blessing.  The second blessing is my current visitor, a missionary named Leah.  She serves in South Sudan, and needed literal peace and quiet to work on papers for her masters program.  Fighting has been increasing in her area, and she felt it wise to leave for a little bit so she could work, but also for safety.  She will be with me until the end of October.

Leah said that she's not slept this well in two weeks, and I imagine that it's difficult to sleep while there's gunfire, or even the threat of gunfire.  Many people have left the town where she lives, and she said that being here in Uganda, where it's safe and quiet, is a blessing.

However, I've realized that she is the one blessing me.  This is my first "long holiday" without the Dennisons, who were my default go-to people whenever I wanted to be around people, or go get coffee off-campus.  I am still adjusting to being "alone," and not having my students here has certainly exacerbated things.  Then Leah came, and now I have built-in community right up to the time that I go to the US for leave. 

I'm rejoicing in how faithful our God is in providing what we need, even when we really don't know it.