I'm way too tired to even try to write coherently, so I'm going to bullet point this.
I usually fly KLM or Lufthansa, but this time I flew BA.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:
1) Touch screen entertainment system (compared to my last international flights which had NOTHING... not even MUSIC!... for two 9 hour daytime flights. Shoot me.) I watched The Hunger Games. Epic.
2) Chicken tikka masala for dinner. Mmmhmmm. They don't mess around.
3) The adorable Indian toddler who squealed as we were landing, "Mama, I'm giving you all of my love!"
4) The British kid next to me talking to his big brother: "Are you sure you can lift them onto the trolley? They're like 21... 21 stone."
Basically the fact that people around me are speaking in British accents is excellent. It's much more comforting than being in Dutch airports where everyone is so tall and all the signs are in like 3 languages.
5)Heathrow airport is full of a diverse population of two year olds at their squat/squishy peak, and they're speaking all different languages. Sorry, I notice these things. Be still my heart.
6)I have yet to get seriously lost in either Newark or Heathrow.
7) I have a Yotel (http://www.yotel.com) in Heathrow. It's like a tiny train compartment with a bed, bathroom, free wifi and a tv. I reserved it for 5 hours since I have a 10-hour-ish layover. So I'm going into the next long flight clean, rested, not stressed out. Lovely.
What I do NOT love is the fact that my friend and fellow teacher, Erika, wasn't able to get a seat on her standby flight from Chicago to London. We were going to fly on together from Heathrow to Entebbe. Instead, she had to fly back to LA from Chicago, is going to rest up a bit and book another flight. Poor Erika! I don't mind going on alone (done it lots of times) but I'm mostly just bummed that she had to go through that. Talk about a stressful situation :/
I have the Yotel for another 70 minutes, then I have to make my way back to Terminal 5 and find my next flight, but it doesn't depart for a few hours still.
Not sure when I'll have internet access when I get to Uganda, but I'll write as soon as I can. Thanks for all your prayers for me!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Jonathan Edwards on Christian Love and Charity
"If you will devote yourself to God, as making a sacrifice of all your own
interests to him, you will not throw yourself away. Though you seem to neglect
yourself, and to deny yourself, and to overlook self in imitating the divine
benevolence, God will take care of you; and he will see to
it that your interest is provided for, and your welfare made sure. You shall be
no loser by all the sacrifices you have made for him. To his glory be it said,
he will not be your debtor, but will requite you a hundred-fold even in this
life, beside the eternal rewards that he will bestow upon you hereafter. His own
declaration is, “Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall
receive an hundred-fold” (the other evangelist adds, “in this present time”),
“and shall inherit everlasting life” (Mat. 19:29); and the spirit of this
declaration applies to all sacrifices made for Christ, or for our fellowmen for
his sake. The greatness of the reward for this life Christ expresses by a
definite number; but he does not God make use of numbers, however great, to set
forth the reward promised them hereafter. He only says they shall receive
everlasting life, because the reward is so great, and so much exceeds all the
expense and self-denial persons can be at for Christ’s sake, that no numbers are
sufficient to describe it.
(http://www.biblebb.com/files/edwards/charity8.htm)
"If you are selfish, and
make yourself and your own private interests your idol, God will leave you to
yourself, and let you promote your own interests as well as you can. But if you
do not selfishly seek your own, but do seek the things that are Jesus Christ’s,
and the things of your fellow-beings, then God will make your interest and
happiness his own charge, and he is infinitely more able to provide for and
promote it than you are. The resources of the universe move at his bidding, and
he can easily command them all to subserve your welfare. So that, not to seek
your own, in the selfish sense, is the best way of seeking your own in a better
sense. It is the directest course you can take to secure your highest happiness.
When you are required not to be selfish, you are not required, as has been
observed, not to love and seek your own happiness, but only not to seek mainly
your own private and confined interests. But if you place your happiness in God,
in glorifying him, and in serving him by doing good, — in this way, above all
others, will you promote your wealth, and honor, and pleasure here below, and
obtain hereafter a crown of unfading glory, and pleasures forevermore at God’s
right hand. If you seek, in the spirit of selfishness, to grasp all as your own,
you shall lose all, and be driven out of the world at last, naked and forlorn,
to everlasting poverty and contempt. But if you seek not your own, but the
things of Christ, and the good of your fellowmen, God himself will be yours, and
Christ yours, and the Holy Spirit yours, and all things yours. Yes, “all things”
shall be yours; “whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or
death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s;
and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:21, 22).
(http://www.biblebb.com/files/edwards/charity8.htm)
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Packing... oh joy.
Finally! Almost time for me to go back. I've had a WONDERFUL summer at home, but I'm so excited to get back to my new "family" in Karamoja.
There's a lot involved in preparing to go back. First off, packing. Ugggh. Packing for almost a year in two 50-pound trunks isn't easy, but I'm getting there. One thing I really want to do this time is bring a few more "homey" things for my hut. Last time I only brought one suitcase of my own stuff (the other suitcase was stuff I brought for the mission). I could only fit clothes, shoes, some food, and six months worth of deodorant and shampoo :) Thankfully Erika had thought ahead and brought some things to cheer up our banda (hut) and kitchen - a calendar, candles, Christmas decorations, pictures, etc. This year Erika and I will each have our own hut, so the decorations are up to me. I'm trying to fit as many pictures, candles and reminders of home as I can in my trunks. Some people might look at that as a waste of space, but I think it will cheer me up.
Kampala and Mbale shops have pretty much all the basic things I need (it's just a matter of knowing where to look!), so I'm trying to talk myself out of a lot of the stuff I've packed so far. But there are some things that you just need to survive... like a huge bag of pretzel M&Ms. I don't care what else I have to leave behind, the M&Ms are coming with me!
For those who have asked, my mailing address is:
PO Box 1307
Mbale, Uganda
East Africa
I can't receive packages, but you can send flat envelopes (and fill them with drink mixes, photos, anything else small and flat!). I would LOVE to get mail. I will try to reply, although it will probably take a while since the post office is a few hours away!
There's a lot involved in preparing to go back. First off, packing. Ugggh. Packing for almost a year in two 50-pound trunks isn't easy, but I'm getting there. One thing I really want to do this time is bring a few more "homey" things for my hut. Last time I only brought one suitcase of my own stuff (the other suitcase was stuff I brought for the mission). I could only fit clothes, shoes, some food, and six months worth of deodorant and shampoo :) Thankfully Erika had thought ahead and brought some things to cheer up our banda (hut) and kitchen - a calendar, candles, Christmas decorations, pictures, etc. This year Erika and I will each have our own hut, so the decorations are up to me. I'm trying to fit as many pictures, candles and reminders of home as I can in my trunks. Some people might look at that as a waste of space, but I think it will cheer me up.
Kampala and Mbale shops have pretty much all the basic things I need (it's just a matter of knowing where to look!), so I'm trying to talk myself out of a lot of the stuff I've packed so far. But there are some things that you just need to survive... like a huge bag of pretzel M&Ms. I don't care what else I have to leave behind, the M&Ms are coming with me!
For those who have asked, my mailing address is:
PO Box 1307
Mbale, Uganda
East Africa
I can't receive packages, but you can send flat envelopes (and fill them with drink mixes, photos, anything else small and flat!). I would LOVE to get mail. I will try to reply, although it will probably take a while since the post office is a few hours away!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
The Karamoja Superhighway!
I stole this picture from the Wrights (taken yesterday on their trip to Mbale) so that you'd see what it is I'm asking you to pray for. The road to Karamoja is very difficult to drive right now because of heavy rains -- it's in the worst condition the missionaries have ever seen. Please pray that the rains would STOP (at least for a few days!) and that the roads would dry out enough to make it slightly easier by the time Pastor Dave drives down to Kampala next week to pick up me and Erika. Even if this was to dry out it would still be very hard to maneuver through, but at least with drier roads we won't be slipping all over the place or having water come over the hood into the Land Cruiser windows (which happened yesterday!) Please also pray that the government will quickly fix a collapsed bridge which is nearly impassable, and that the many many many large trucks which have been stuck in the road for days will be able to get out of the mud.
No end of adventures in Karamoja!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
WHITE LAKE! Family Camp
Kids camp ended on Friday morning, and in the afternoon the
counselors went to Bubba's for BBQ and just to get off the hilltop. At
that point several of us were starting to get sick and were utterly
exhausted (kids camp was fun, but tiring, too!). Family Camp started off
well (though wet and muddy!), with Roger Blevins as this years' family
camp president. We had an international theme for the week.
Counselors look at family camp as a mixed blessing. On the one hand, there are lots more adults to help keep an eye on the kids, which makes our job a bit more relaxed. On the other hand, after two or three weeks as the only adults on the hilltop, it feels strange to be "invaded" by grown-ups! But after you adjust to the entirely different vibe of family camp, it is really enjoyable.
The weekend was very rainy, which altered our plans a bit, but the campers still had a good time. However, by Saturday I was so sick that I wasn't too aware of what was going on. I was completely exhausted, had a horrible cold and sore throat, and was basically walking around like a zombie and skipping all the activities to lie down (but, as team leader, I had so many responsibilities swirling around in my head that I could never actually fall asleep during these "naps"). On Monday morning several people told me I looked "horrible!!" and that afternoon the Camp Director Bob Allmond sat me down and asked me to consider going home. He was concerned that I wouldn't recover in time for Uganda and he knows that it generally takes team leaders a couple weeks to recover after camp. So, as hard as it was, I agreed that I needed to leave, so I went home from camp on Monday night. So if you want to hear how the rest of family camp went, you'll have to ask someone else :)
I knew it was the right decision to leave (and I made the decision, it wasn't forced on me), but as the evening came and I started saying goodbye I got pretty sad knowing that I'm leaving for Uganda and won't see any of these dear friends for at least a year, some maybe two years. They sent me off with lots of love and bear hugs. I love you all so much! This is only the second time in 24 years that I haven't been there for the full week of family camp, so it feels strange. I'm going through serious White Lake withdrawal! But I'll be back from Africa in time to be at camp next year. I'm already looking forward to it :)
White Lake is still the happiest place on earth :)
Counselors look at family camp as a mixed blessing. On the one hand, there are lots more adults to help keep an eye on the kids, which makes our job a bit more relaxed. On the other hand, after two or three weeks as the only adults on the hilltop, it feels strange to be "invaded" by grown-ups! But after you adjust to the entirely different vibe of family camp, it is really enjoyable.
The weekend was very rainy, which altered our plans a bit, but the campers still had a good time. However, by Saturday I was so sick that I wasn't too aware of what was going on. I was completely exhausted, had a horrible cold and sore throat, and was basically walking around like a zombie and skipping all the activities to lie down (but, as team leader, I had so many responsibilities swirling around in my head that I could never actually fall asleep during these "naps"). On Monday morning several people told me I looked "horrible!!" and that afternoon the Camp Director Bob Allmond sat me down and asked me to consider going home. He was concerned that I wouldn't recover in time for Uganda and he knows that it generally takes team leaders a couple weeks to recover after camp. So, as hard as it was, I agreed that I needed to leave, so I went home from camp on Monday night. So if you want to hear how the rest of family camp went, you'll have to ask someone else :)
I knew it was the right decision to leave (and I made the decision, it wasn't forced on me), but as the evening came and I started saying goodbye I got pretty sad knowing that I'm leaving for Uganda and won't see any of these dear friends for at least a year, some maybe two years. They sent me off with lots of love and bear hugs. I love you all so much! This is only the second time in 24 years that I haven't been there for the full week of family camp, so it feels strange. I'm going through serious White Lake withdrawal! But I'll be back from Africa in time to be at camp next year. I'm already looking forward to it :)
White Lake is still the happiest place on earth :)
WHITE LAKE! Kids/Teen Camp
I spent a little over two weeks at White Lake Covenanter Camp, serving as the team leader for the RP Missions team. This was seriously the best mission team/counselor team I have ever served with! My teammates were Stasia Finch, Debbie Shafer, Evelyn Ashleigh, Kayla Milroy, Jackie Werts, Sidney Camery, Gabi Chamberlain, David Pinkerton, James Allmond, Nate Oliveiri, Quinn Coulton, David Donath, Josh Donath, Peter Merkel, and Connor McCracken.
Never before has a team of counselors gotten along as well as we did. Nobody was an outsider, nobody was badly behaved or causing trouble. There were no schisms or cliques. We all got along GREAT. We laughed, sang, danced, teased and played our way through everything. Not to say it was always easy. We tackled a lot of jobs during prep week, including gathering TONS of firewood from the woods, cleaning most of the buildings from top to bottom, and planning all the kids camp lessons. Thankfully, with such a big group of counselors, we were able to check jobs off the list very quickly. We also spent time during prep week sharing our testimonies with each other. This was a great way to learn about each other, recognize where everyone was coming from, and, as a team leader, notice how I could encourage and support my teammates in particular ways.
Kids and Teen Camp went so well. We had about 50 campers altogether, which meant that with such a huge staff keeping track of the kids wasn't too difficult. Pastor Micah Ramsey was the teen camp speaker and he was very well-received by the kids. He spoke on the person and work of Christ. The kids camp counselors taught on various miracles and parables of Jesus, and did lots of fun activities and crafts. In the evenings we played Humans vs. Zombies (a big hit!), had a dress-up the counselor night (I was a pirate -- I'll post pictures soon!), and had a carnival one night run by Mike Tabon. Another night everyone was so relaxed and having fun that we ditched the evening activity altogether! Several counselors and campers pulled out instruments they'd brought (a banjo, violin, ukulele, and guitar) and we spent the evening just sitting around listening to them having an impromptu jam session, while others played volleyball, basketball, and ping pong, or just sat and talked. It was such a relaxing night and I think it speaks volumes for the counselors that the kids were happy to just spend time with their counselors and friends.
Never before has a team of counselors gotten along as well as we did. Nobody was an outsider, nobody was badly behaved or causing trouble. There were no schisms or cliques. We all got along GREAT. We laughed, sang, danced, teased and played our way through everything. Not to say it was always easy. We tackled a lot of jobs during prep week, including gathering TONS of firewood from the woods, cleaning most of the buildings from top to bottom, and planning all the kids camp lessons. Thankfully, with such a big group of counselors, we were able to check jobs off the list very quickly. We also spent time during prep week sharing our testimonies with each other. This was a great way to learn about each other, recognize where everyone was coming from, and, as a team leader, notice how I could encourage and support my teammates in particular ways.
Kids and Teen Camp went so well. We had about 50 campers altogether, which meant that with such a huge staff keeping track of the kids wasn't too difficult. Pastor Micah Ramsey was the teen camp speaker and he was very well-received by the kids. He spoke on the person and work of Christ. The kids camp counselors taught on various miracles and parables of Jesus, and did lots of fun activities and crafts. In the evenings we played Humans vs. Zombies (a big hit!), had a dress-up the counselor night (I was a pirate -- I'll post pictures soon!), and had a carnival one night run by Mike Tabon. Another night everyone was so relaxed and having fun that we ditched the evening activity altogether! Several counselors and campers pulled out instruments they'd brought (a banjo, violin, ukulele, and guitar) and we spent the evening just sitting around listening to them having an impromptu jam session, while others played volleyball, basketball, and ping pong, or just sat and talked. It was such a relaxing night and I think it speaks volumes for the counselors that the kids were happy to just spend time with their counselors and friends.
Summer Travels
Hey everyone!
The countdown is on... 12 days till I fly back to Uganda!
I spent the last month traveling all over the place. First stop: my dear friend Brenda Gladfelter's wedding to her Northern Irishman, Stephen McCollum. Brenda and I have been friends since we were awkward little kids running around making fairy houses at White Lake. Stephen is a quality guy and I'm so glad to invite him into the family :) Their wedding was beautiful and I enjoyed helping Mr. G in the kitchen, along with Kathryn and Stasia. I don't know when I'll ever get used to her being Mrs. McCollum though! Stasia, Kathryn and I stayed with Jenny and Jason Panella for a couple days, which was a fantastically good time, although poor Jenny had just returned from her mission trip to France and was completely jetlagged!
The day after the wedding I met up with my friends Andrew, Adam and Rachel, and we camped our way to the International Conference in Marion, Indiana. We stayed at KOA's both nights so we weren't roughing it too much, but it was a ton of fun. We went to Cedar Point (although the rain closed most of the big rides!! sadness) and went to see The Dark Knight Rises at a drive-in movie theater. Besides a leaky tent that didn't quite survive the thunderstorms one night, the trip was a great success. So glad I spent that time with friends instead of just driving straight out to the conference!
The RP International Conference was held at Indiana Wesleyan University, a really beautiful campus. Joel Beeke was the main speaker. Amazingly, he gave all his lectures that week despite the fact that his mother passed away the Monday morning of the conference. His talks and the breakout sessions were great. I tended to go to all the missions talks... I can't help myself :P Jim and Jenny Knox shared about Karamoja, and I also got to hear a presentation on Cush4Christ. So encouraged to hear how the Lord is blessing so many ministries around the world!
One of the difficult parts of the conference was simply that there were SO MANY PEOPLE. Over 2,200 RPs = craziness. So many times I'd see someone as I was on my way somewhere and say, "We'll catch up later!" never to see them again. I did get to spend a lot of quality time with old and new friends. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life! I'm looking forward to the next stateside conference in 2016 (I'll be 28 -- WHAT).
At the end of the conference, 11 of us began the journey to White Lake Covenanter Camp in Bob Allmond's 15-passenger van. White Lake deserves its own post :)
The countdown is on... 12 days till I fly back to Uganda!
I spent the last month traveling all over the place. First stop: my dear friend Brenda Gladfelter's wedding to her Northern Irishman, Stephen McCollum. Brenda and I have been friends since we were awkward little kids running around making fairy houses at White Lake. Stephen is a quality guy and I'm so glad to invite him into the family :) Their wedding was beautiful and I enjoyed helping Mr. G in the kitchen, along with Kathryn and Stasia. I don't know when I'll ever get used to her being Mrs. McCollum though! Stasia, Kathryn and I stayed with Jenny and Jason Panella for a couple days, which was a fantastically good time, although poor Jenny had just returned from her mission trip to France and was completely jetlagged!
The day after the wedding I met up with my friends Andrew, Adam and Rachel, and we camped our way to the International Conference in Marion, Indiana. We stayed at KOA's both nights so we weren't roughing it too much, but it was a ton of fun. We went to Cedar Point (although the rain closed most of the big rides!! sadness) and went to see The Dark Knight Rises at a drive-in movie theater. Besides a leaky tent that didn't quite survive the thunderstorms one night, the trip was a great success. So glad I spent that time with friends instead of just driving straight out to the conference!
The RP International Conference was held at Indiana Wesleyan University, a really beautiful campus. Joel Beeke was the main speaker. Amazingly, he gave all his lectures that week despite the fact that his mother passed away the Monday morning of the conference. His talks and the breakout sessions were great. I tended to go to all the missions talks... I can't help myself :P Jim and Jenny Knox shared about Karamoja, and I also got to hear a presentation on Cush4Christ. So encouraged to hear how the Lord is blessing so many ministries around the world!
One of the difficult parts of the conference was simply that there were SO MANY PEOPLE. Over 2,200 RPs = craziness. So many times I'd see someone as I was on my way somewhere and say, "We'll catch up later!" never to see them again. I did get to spend a lot of quality time with old and new friends. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life! I'm looking forward to the next stateside conference in 2016 (I'll be 28 -- WHAT).
At the end of the conference, 11 of us began the journey to White Lake Covenanter Camp in Bob Allmond's 15-passenger van. White Lake deserves its own post :)
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