All.The.Ants.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am domestically challenged. You generally don’t want me in the kitchen.  Mary Jane teases me about the cookies I make for our expat women’s fellowship, as in that’s all I’ll make.  I’ve been struggling with pizza dough here; it took me several weeks to forge a friendship with the yeast, and it’s a tenuous relationship at best.  I made pizza dough this afternoon, and set it in its usual place to rise, next to the refrigerator, with a hot kettle next to it for encouragement.

When I got the dough to roll it out, oh my heck.  Ants.  ALL over my dough.   I have no idea what happened; I’ve done this forever.  My friend Rosie used to blithely say that “we live among the insects,” but I’ve never shared her good humor on that front. 

So I did what any good Christian would do; I baptized them into oblivion with the hot water from the kettle.  Then I took the sopping mound of dough, added a bunch of flour... and rolled out the best pizza dough EVER.  Oh, the irony!

Powers of perception

In my experience, Africans are ridiculously perceptive, and have remarkable spatial skills.  Alison Barfoot told me long ago that "we drive by millimeters here," and she wasn't kidding.  I can't tell you the number of times a car has passed me with what seems to be literally an inch to spare.  Cars, taxis, and bodas move with impunity, passing by pedestrians with inches to spare, and no one is concerned.  Driving here has certainly increased my spatial skills.

I've been on the receiving end of a number of these perceptions over the years:  "You've reduced!"  "You've gained!" "You're whiter than when you left [for the four-month long holiday]!" and my favorite, "You're smart!" when I wear a new kitenge, or African fabric.

Today though, I had to laugh.  I wore a new kitenge to chapel, a fabric that one of the students from Tanzania had brought me.  Several people commented on the kitenge, but no one noticed that 1. I wore my hair down (which rarely happens; it's too hot), and 2. I had cut four inches off my hair.  

Perhaps it's because the women can, and do, change their hair so easily with plaiting and such.  Regardless, I was quite amused that no one noticed what was incredibly noticeable to me.

One Network Area = happiness!

MTN (the largest cell carrier here) recently announced that they had joined the East Africa One Network Area, which provides "affordable tariffs" to calls in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan.  This is huge; calls to these countries used to be at exorbitant rates; it's ridiculous the airtime we went through at GAFCON in Nairobi.  So, this is a win-win for everyone in East Africa (except Burundi and Tanzania; I'm not sure why they aren't participating).

So, since this is such a good thing, how odd is it that I am sad that my phone no longer displays "MTN-Uganda"?  It was fun being in Rwanda and seeing the MTN-Rwanda.  For some reason, I feel somewhat bereft.

Hallelujah - rain!!

It rained last night!  I never thought I'd ever be so happy about rain, but it's the dry season.  Emphasis on dry.  We're rather spoiled in Mukono, because usually it rains in decent intervals during the dry season, usually when it gets to be unbearably hot, but this year, we've been as dry as everyone else.  That means that it's hot and dusty.  And then it's dusty.  In case you were wondering, dirt roads that have a lot of dirt churned up on them are just as difficult to walk and drive on as snowy roads; the dirt is just as slippery.

So around midnight, we had a deluge for about three minutes, and then I think it rained a tiny bit more.  It was a joyous gift, I have to tell you.  This morning in chapel, the students were giving thanks for the rain, which "put down the dust."  I don't know that the grass is any less brown, but I am grateful for the brief respite nonetheless.

Yesterday, I was walking to chapel, and caught up with one of the students I'd not really spoken with since they returned.  We said hello and happy new year, then I asked how his family is.  He replied that they are fine, but it's dry, so it's hard to get water.  This is the reality in the village; one has to go get water, and when it's not there, it's not there.

The dry season is horrendously difficult, there's no two ways about it.  About two weeks ago, a newspaper reported that there would be no rain until March, so farmers shouldn't plant now.  And yet people need to garden to eat.  So we pray for rain.

Finding joy in the marking

From October to December, our students are on block placement, where they work in a church in their diocese.  When they return to campus in January, they must write a fieldwork report that describes what they did, the challenges they found, recommended solutions, and a theological reflection.  I did it when I was a student.

While reading one student’s draft field work report, I found this sentence:  “Spiritual preparation of my heart will be very important in my ministry to God’s people.”  Oh my, yes!  My heart is soaring.  I put two stars next to this sentence, underlined it, and wrote that I was rejoicing over reading that sentence.

This is something that I try to reiterate to my students as often as possible... that God is after our hearts, in everything we do.  Preaching, teaching, discipleship, leadership, pastoral care... all is of that is good, and doing it well is great, but it is how we open our hearts to the Lord that will affect our ministries the most.

Reading this is also a good reminder to me.  It’s been a rough start to the semester, and I’ve just wanted to shut down and just survive until mid-April.  However, that wouldn’t allow for “spiritual preparation of my heart,” and would certainly have a negative impact on my ministry to God’s people, which I do not want.  So I’m trying to see what it is the Lord is preparing.

And now for some fun

Yesterday, one of my Tanzanian students asked when I was coming to visit them.  Obviously, Tanzania is a large country, and you really can't get there from here.  I told him that I'm coming, and I really do want to come; I just need to find the time to traipse about East Africa.

Then I wondered how large Tanzania is, so I Googled "how large is Tanzania compared to" and let it autocomplete the word "states."  Google gave me this fun web page:  http://mapfight.appspot.com, which lets you compare countries and states, and gives a graphic that overlays your two choices.  

I thought this was great fun, and wasted spent a fair amount of time with it.  I learned that Tanzania is 8.53 times as big as Virginia, but it is .55 times bigger than Alaska (e.g., Alaska is larger).  Really, the possibilities for map comparison are quite a lot - check it out!

Who needs snow?

Who says you need snow to go sledding? Kids were using palm tree fronds (trunks?) as makeshift sleds this morning before Sunday School.

Students are coming! Students are coming!

Registration began Wednesday, which meant that the students are once again on campus.  There has been a fairly steady stream of students stopping by the office (they are required to check-in with the office when they come to register), and the sound of  “Welcome back!  Happy new year!” has been a perpetual chorus.  While it meant that precious little got done, it was great to see my students again. 

I was talking with one of my students, Francis, about his time “in the field” while he was on the long holiday.  His diocese has been embroiled in some controversies the last few years.  He updated me on what’s going on, and I was struck by how evenly he told the story.  The situation there is horribly divisive, and his maturity and integrity shined brightly.  I know of three students from that diocese, all young men in their mid- to late-twenties, and each of them has the same heart – the heart to serve the Lord in righteousness.  They have a hard road of healing the diocese ahead, but if this is the kind of clergy the Lord is bringing up, hallelujah!

Thursday night I went to the dining hall to recruit "volunteers" for the first week of chapel.  I exchanged the mandatory “Welcome back!  Happy new year!” choruses, and when I explained what brought me to the dining, quickly got the team together. 

Francis had asked me why I was there, and I pointed out that the best place to find the theologians is in the dining hall; they’re always the first for meals and tea.  It’s ridiculously true, and has been for years.  I pointed to where the theology students were sitting, on both sides of the center aisle, and commented that theology is always camped on the banks of the River Jordan.  That got a good laugh out of the table, because they know it’s true, but Francis insisted that I was wrong.

I went to various tables greeting the students, and came back to Francis to be sure that I didn’t start the new year on an offense, and that he knew I was kidding.  He just smiled and said, “when you’re talking to a mother you love, you can have some funs.”  My first thought was that he was a turkey, since I didn’t realize he was kidding, but then I really heard what he said – I’m a mother to them.

They’ve adopted this white woman as one of their mothers – someone they honor, respect, and value.  I am humbled and blessed beyond words.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends!  I pray the Lord blesses you abundantly in 2015!

I have a small list of things to blog about, though I've been enjoying the quiet on campus before the students return next week.  I preached at the New Year's Day service on campus, though otherwise, I've been jealously guarding my time.

Today, I had all kinds of plans for being productive (after taking friends who had been on campus to Kampala), and then I spilled a cup of sugar on my not-so-pristine kitchen floor.  And since I have open shelves, it got all in the shelves.  And in the pots and pans I don't use.  The ants who already like me will absolutely love me now! 

I suppose it's not too late to begin the year afresh!