Goodbyes....and Hellos

Well, I've been back in the States for two weeks now. I wanted to share some photos of my last few days in Uganda, my trip home and layover in London, and things that have happened since my return.

The students in Kampala had a party for my roommate Megan and I on our last day of
Saturday Club. This is a group picture of everyone who was there that day, along with the cake that my friend Renee made for us.






Here is a close-up of the cake. Megan and I are wearing T-shirts that the kids signed for us.







Many of the students and staff rewrote the words of a song and sang it to us.





Fun pictures with my friends.










Brenda, Hope, Ruth, and Esther

Bruno, Carol, Rashid, Kate, and Molly











Megan, Brian, Safari, Eddie, Me, Charles, and Francis


Megan, Andrew, and I


On my last day of work, I brought my fish "!" to the office to give him to my friend, Richard.






Proud new fish owner!






On Sunday, at church, I was able to see many friends one last time and say goodbye.
Monday morning came all too soon and too early. (I had to be up by 5am!) I had no problems getting checked in, and wasn't charged anything for my one overweight bag (Yay!). On the flight from Entebbe to London I was able to sit with some old family friends who had been in Uganda on a missions trip for the past month. I had an overnight layover in London, so after checking into my hotel, I rode the subway into town and had some time to see the sights.










Trafalgar Square







Another side of Trafalgar Square with the church, St. Martin of the Fields, behind it.








Looking towards Parliament from Trafalgar Square







Big Ben









Self-portrait in front of Parliament








The River Thames










Westminster Abbey










Cute Restaurant with beautiful flowers




For dinner that evening, having not eaten fast food for 9 months....of course, I grabbed a Happy Meal from McDonalds! It tasted great! Gotta love french fries.

The next day, I flew from London to San Francisco, and then from San Francisco to Portland. At the airport I was greeted by many friends and family. I had expected to see my parents and maybe my sisters, but was surprised by seeing my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and several friends from church. I was tackled by my three oldest nephews :) and I was able to greet my new twin niece and nephew for the first time! It was a wonderful homecoming.
During the last couple of weeks I have taken time to get used to many different things...we drive on the right side of the road here, roads are wider and not full of potholes or speed bumps, people follow the laws while driving and don't honk their horns very often. I am also greatly enjoying eating things like berries, peaches, pears, grapes, and ice cream and chocolate! I'm finishing up my last few requirements for my Master's Degree at Western Seminary and am excited for it to be completed.
I've gotten to spend time with my family as well. I'm amazed at how much all of my nephews have grown!








My twins: Olivia and Jackson













Drew, Lincoln, and I









Elijah







Micah




It is nice to be home, but I am definitely missing Uganda. We'll see what the coming weeks and months bring...

Plastic Skating

Only in Africa could you find ice skating on something other than ice. My roommate Megan and I just went ice skating on a floor that was some kind of plastic. It was crazy...definitely more difficult to skate on...very slippery. I felt like I was five years old again, learning to skate for the first time. It was quite the adventure!

June Events

The month of June went by quickly. The two major things that happened were that my friends Katie and Joy visited me (yay!) and that we moved offices.

Having Katie and Joy here was so much fun. They got to see my life in Kampala as they took part in Saturday club, coaching, and other office activities. We also did some fun things, such as visit the source of the Nile River down in Jinja and go shopping at the Equator. It was great to be able to share everything with them.


Katie and Joy working in the office








We're at the source of the Nile River...where the river leaves Lake Victoria and starts its journey toward the Mediterranean Sea.










Katie and I relaxing on the roof of my house.










Standing at the Equator



As far as moving offices goes…it is something that has needed to happen for a long time. We had been in a two room office located next to the church, but we were bursting from the seams. The new place we have is a two-story house with tons of space! We’re still in the process of settling in but are enjoying having room to spread out in and space to store all our supplies. It is a big answer to prayer.



Hanging up curtains










Brian, GJ, and Richard








Andrew and Dorothy in the empty old office.




Megan and I working at our new desks.

Passion Conference Kampala

Last weekend I attended Passion-Kampala, a conference aimed to inspire University students to live for glory of God. Thousands of students attended the two day conference held on the sports field on the campus of Makerere University, the largest university in Uganda. Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, and Charlie Hall led us in some amazing worship. It was awesome to see so many young people singing their hearts out and dancing before the Lord. Louie Giglio and Francis Chan spoke to the crowd, challenging us to say, “Yes, Lord,” in every area of our lives, to remember that God designed us with a purpose in mind, to be wholly devoted to serving Jesus, and to realize how big God is, how small we are, and how awesome it is that God knows our name and wants to use us.









Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin leading worship







Some of my friends







Jennie, Dorothy, and I

Coaching

Over the holiday I also met with students twice a week for coaching (tutoring) classes. I always enjoy working with small groups of students. It is exciting to see them catch on and understand concepts and ideas they have been struggling with.




The Primary students







me with Lillian, the second grader I’ve been working with







Some of the secondary coaching students

Breakaway

The students had four weeks of holiday during the month of May; the break between first and second term. Holidays are always busy, but fun, because we get to see the kids a lot more. For Breakaway this time, we wanted to do some new things and not just follow the same pattern we have been. We were able to take the kids on several outings.
(1) Our first trip was to visit our new office. It is located in Naguru, an area close to where many of our students live. They loved exploring the place! We enjoyed some cookies, played games, and watched a movie while we were there.



Relaxing on the lawn outside the office







Playing games








(2)For out next outing, we went to a park: Kiwatule Recreation Center. Parks are rare here. Kiwatule is privately owned and costs a fee to enter. There are several areas for people to gather in. The main places of attraction for the students were the play equipment, the swimming pool, and the field. It was neat to see how much even the older students enjoyed doing things like swinging on the swings, going on the teeter totter and merry-go-round, etc. The park even featured a train ride which circled the premises twice.



Sofia, Brian, and Phiona on the swings






Fun on the Merry-go-round










Eddie, Prossy, Sheilla, Charles, Sofia, Paula, Ruth, and Safari posing with the frog








Train Ride!









Our Group









(3) We stayed at the church for our next meeting and did a couple of fun activities: tower building with spaghetti noodles and toothpicks (to illustrate how we as believers are being built into a spiritual house and that we are all important and interdependent on one another) and we also made cards using banana leaf fibers.






Asedri, Denis, Charles, Andrew, and Megan proudly showing off their tower









Making Cards





(4) Next we had a photo scavenger hunt. The students were split into 3 different groups and were given a list of 10 things they had to get photos of…Here are some of the things my group had to do…



crammed into an ATM booth










With a picture of President Museveni










Pumping Petrol









With the Uganda Flag












(5) Our last trip was to take a tour of the Coca Cola Factory—the largest one in Uganda. It was neat to see the huge conveyor belts full of bottles at every step of the process: getting washed, being filled with coke, putting the cap on, etc. Cameras weren’t allowed on the premises (I actually had to turn mine in to security before I could go in), so I only got one group picture of us all: