I haven't written on here in quite a while, mainly because I've been so busy and, more recently, out of sheer confusion as I try to figure out my future plans.
A few of you have heard that I've made the difficult decision not to return to Uganda this fall. There are many reasons for this, mainly financial. A lot of different difficulties have transpired which led me to a decision to stay home and work for at least a year, so I can put more than the minimum towards my student loan payments.
I love Karamoja and I've left a piece of my heart there. I want to get back there as soon as I can, but I know it will be at least one year before I return to my home-away-from-home. I'm so thankful for the many, many people who counseled and encouraged me as I had to make this really tough decision.
Please pray for me as I seek God's will for this next phase of my life -- which may involve teaching English in South Korea or looking for a job in the States. I haven't been in the job-hunting world in a long time and it's pretty overwhelming!
I will probably give this blog a rest unless/until I find myself overseas again...hopefully it won't be too long!
Love in Christ,
Emily
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Picture Time!
I teach kindergarten to these little troublemakers for about an hour on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. They all come to my banda. On this rainy day, after tramping from the clinic to my place in the rain and mud, they decided to cuddle up under a blanket for school. (Left to right: Stacey Kyalo, Jacob Okken, James Kyalo)
Sunshine Okken ran across this puff adder on the path behind my banda a few weeks ago. It was just a bit longer than my flip flop, but don't let their small size deceive you - these things are very dangerous (erono jik!). Thankfully our guard Papa Lokwii came to the rescue right away and gave it a good sound beating, then chucked it into the trees.
Dressed up in our Karimojong finest for a wedding we attended earlier this year. COLOR. BEADS. BANGLES. MORE COLORS. CLASHING COLORS. They love it!
We are ever relaxing!
This week we're enjoying some much needed R&R in Jinja, the most touristy town in Uganda. It's an absolutely beautiful little city. We're staying at a hotel called Serjio's, which has views of the Nile/Lake Victoria and really beautiful rooms. Its a specialty pizza place too. We are enjoying ourselves too much completely! There's something so therapeutic about being in a really beautiful, CLEAN place with no responsibilities and time to do whatever we want -- swim, sit and talk, play board games, download Youtube videos, sip chai or walk around the Jinja market haggling for good deals on second hand clothes. We had a pretty funny interchange with one lady in the market today who absolutely INSISTED that "my friend, this bath towel is second hand, so it is more! It must be more than new! You know it must be more money than new!" She honestly didn't understand how absurd that idea was!
Two "head honchos" of OPC Foreign Missions, Mark Bube and Doug Clawson, are here to lead the meetings during the retreat and to provide some counsel and encouragement to our team. The adult members of the mission and the MAs (me, Erika, Leah, Chris, Chloe and Jesse) met for several hours yesterday and this morning discussing how things are going (using a Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats assessment), brainstorming future plans and finding out some things we can start working on now to improve our work and our engagement with the community. We came away with lots of ideas to chew on, and talking things through as a big group was really an encouragement to me.
Erika and I came down before the rest of the team, on Saturday morning, and spent Saturday through Monday morning in Mbale. The rest of the team drove down Monday morning and picked us up to take us to Jinja. This morning our retreat ended, and most of the team returned to Karamoja, but Erika, Leah and I are staying in Jinja for a few more days to debrief, spend some time in the Word together and just relax a bit more before going back to the daily grind. We're taking advantage of the chance for a vacation together!
I thank God for these dear girls who have become such close friends for me. They're a constant encouragement to me and we laugh a lot together. Us single ladies gotta stick together, and I'm not sure I could go on living here without them! They're such a blessing to me.
Thanks for your prayers for us, and thank You, Lord, for time to unwind and think through all that we've seen and done over the past few months!
Two "head honchos" of OPC Foreign Missions, Mark Bube and Doug Clawson, are here to lead the meetings during the retreat and to provide some counsel and encouragement to our team. The adult members of the mission and the MAs (me, Erika, Leah, Chris, Chloe and Jesse) met for several hours yesterday and this morning discussing how things are going (using a Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats assessment), brainstorming future plans and finding out some things we can start working on now to improve our work and our engagement with the community. We came away with lots of ideas to chew on, and talking things through as a big group was really an encouragement to me.
Erika and I came down before the rest of the team, on Saturday morning, and spent Saturday through Monday morning in Mbale. The rest of the team drove down Monday morning and picked us up to take us to Jinja. This morning our retreat ended, and most of the team returned to Karamoja, but Erika, Leah and I are staying in Jinja for a few more days to debrief, spend some time in the Word together and just relax a bit more before going back to the daily grind. We're taking advantage of the chance for a vacation together!
I thank God for these dear girls who have become such close friends for me. They're a constant encouragement to me and we laugh a lot together. Us single ladies gotta stick together, and I'm not sure I could go on living here without them! They're such a blessing to me.
Thanks for your prayers for us, and thank You, Lord, for time to unwind and think through all that we've seen and done over the past few months!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Announcing KEO!
Karamoja Education Outreach
Martha Wright, Erika Bulthuis and I are very excited to announce the newest OPC Foreign Missions Special Project, KEO!
As many of you know, Erika, Martha and I have been involved in teaching young Karimojong children in a variety of ways, from weekly kids Bible studies to visiting Nakaale Primary School every Thursday. Many of you also know that our church plant in Karamoja is small and has no indigenous pastors, elders or deacons. There are simply no men eligible or able to lead the congregation.
Looking at the work here long term, we see a real need for able, educated young people that can one day be trained for ministry. Keeping our eyes on the future, we are hoping to start both a pre-primary school and an expanded school outreach effort in Karamoja.
Erika and I are so excited to be returning in the fall for another year in Karamoja! This will certainly be the most difficult thing I've ever done, but it will be so worthwhile and, Lord willing, a great blessing and encouragement to the work of the Mission as a whole. Thank you for all your prayers as we prepare for this new venture and seek the Lord's guidance and wisdom.
Before returning to the States this summer for a couple months at home, Erika and I will be speaking to parents of potential students and letting the community know about our plans. We'd appreciate your prayers for good discussions with the elders and parents and an ability to clearly explain our goals and expectations.
To learn more about this project, please visit the Karamoja Education Outreach website. I'd love to answer any questions you have about our specific plans. We'll be sending out more information on the project in coming months.
Thanks for your emails and letters of encouragement and your continued prayers!
In Christ,
Emily Pihl
Martha Wright, Erika Bulthuis and I are very excited to announce the newest OPC Foreign Missions Special Project, KEO!
As many of you know, Erika, Martha and I have been involved in teaching young Karimojong children in a variety of ways, from weekly kids Bible studies to visiting Nakaale Primary School every Thursday. Many of you also know that our church plant in Karamoja is small and has no indigenous pastors, elders or deacons. There are simply no men eligible or able to lead the congregation.
Looking at the work here long term, we see a real need for able, educated young people that can one day be trained for ministry. Keeping our eyes on the future, we are hoping to start both a pre-primary school and an expanded school outreach effort in Karamoja.
Erika and I are so excited to be returning in the fall for another year in Karamoja! This will certainly be the most difficult thing I've ever done, but it will be so worthwhile and, Lord willing, a great blessing and encouragement to the work of the Mission as a whole. Thank you for all your prayers as we prepare for this new venture and seek the Lord's guidance and wisdom.
Before returning to the States this summer for a couple months at home, Erika and I will be speaking to parents of potential students and letting the community know about our plans. We'd appreciate your prayers for good discussions with the elders and parents and an ability to clearly explain our goals and expectations.
To learn more about this project, please visit the Karamoja Education Outreach website. I'd love to answer any questions you have about our specific plans. We'll be sending out more information on the project in coming months.
Thanks for your emails and letters of encouragement and your continued prayers!
In Christ,
Emily Pihl
Friday, March 22, 2013
Tolle, lege!
I have been reading a number of fantastic books lately. In the Great Books course I'm teaching, we've been reading Augustine's Confessions and Dorothy Sayers' The Nine Tailors. I've read the Confessions at least three times (that's what you get when you study ancient/medieval history in college). It is an absolutely beautiful book; I can't recommend it enough. Surprisingly enough, my 13 year old student says he'd rather read Augustine than The Nine Tailors, which is a murder mystery novel! Sweet music to my ears!
In our women's Bible study we've been working through the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges. Talk about convicting! The book covers sins such as gossip, lack of self-control, irritability, selfishness, envy, discontentment, and anxiety. Every week we come to the study, announce the topic of the week - "All right, ladies, we're talking about judgmentalism!" -- and every week without fail we laugh uncomfortably, joke that "we've got this one covered, let's skip this week!" and then delve into some serious heart searching and goal-setting to overcome these rampant, subtle sins. This is a fantastic book for a group study (and there is a study guide available).
Other books I'm dawdling in at the moment: On Being a Missionary by Thomas Hale, Cords of Love, a story of pioneer missionaries to Ethiopia, Non Campus Mentis, a hilarious look at college students' take on the history of the world according to the ridiculous things that have been collected from exam books and papers from several universities, and GK Chesterton's Orthodoxy.
Most of all, though, like Augustine, we need to tolle lege -- take up and read -- the Scriptures. I've been consistently reading my Bible every morning (using the Bible reading plan I mentioned a few posts back) but lately I've been checking Facebook and Gmail before I read. Yesterday in Bible study we talked about Lack of Self Control, and several of us admitted that we have a problem with spending more time on the computer in the morning than in the Word. So our commitment for this week is no internet before devotions (which I'm adding to my previous commitment of "no Bible, no breakfast"). Please pray for diligence in this. We need the spiritual strength gained from daily time in the Word in order to face the challenges of living in such a spiritually dark place (and so do all of you living in America!).
God bless you as you take up and read. May He open your eyes to see the beauty and grace that are found only in Christ, just as He opened the eyes of Augustine so many years ago in the garden and allowed the spiritual scales to fall from his eyes for the first time.
Emily
In our women's Bible study we've been working through the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges. Talk about convicting! The book covers sins such as gossip, lack of self-control, irritability, selfishness, envy, discontentment, and anxiety. Every week we come to the study, announce the topic of the week - "All right, ladies, we're talking about judgmentalism!" -- and every week without fail we laugh uncomfortably, joke that "we've got this one covered, let's skip this week!" and then delve into some serious heart searching and goal-setting to overcome these rampant, subtle sins. This is a fantastic book for a group study (and there is a study guide available).
Other books I'm dawdling in at the moment: On Being a Missionary by Thomas Hale, Cords of Love, a story of pioneer missionaries to Ethiopia, Non Campus Mentis, a hilarious look at college students' take on the history of the world according to the ridiculous things that have been collected from exam books and papers from several universities, and GK Chesterton's Orthodoxy.
Most of all, though, like Augustine, we need to tolle lege -- take up and read -- the Scriptures. I've been consistently reading my Bible every morning (using the Bible reading plan I mentioned a few posts back) but lately I've been checking Facebook and Gmail before I read. Yesterday in Bible study we talked about Lack of Self Control, and several of us admitted that we have a problem with spending more time on the computer in the morning than in the Word. So our commitment for this week is no internet before devotions (which I'm adding to my previous commitment of "no Bible, no breakfast"). Please pray for diligence in this. We need the spiritual strength gained from daily time in the Word in order to face the challenges of living in such a spiritually dark place (and so do all of you living in America!).
God bless you as you take up and read. May He open your eyes to see the beauty and grace that are found only in Christ, just as He opened the eyes of Augustine so many years ago in the garden and allowed the spiritual scales to fall from his eyes for the first time.
Emily
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Day 1 (Again): In which I admit my failure.
I'm back. No excuses. I'm a lazy bum. That about sums it up. Let's try to get this blog rolling again.
I'm still aiming for 90 days of blogging. Since I totally failed, I'm starting over. Please keep me accountable!
I have some exciting news -- I'm hoping to return to Karamoja in September for another year, after a two month summer vacation in the good ol' US of A. My role here will be changing, as will my funding situation, but more on all those details later. You'll be seeing a Facebook page, a website, letters, YouTube videos and all kinds of fun media shindigs promoting the Karamoja station's newest project, a preschool literacy and numeracy program run by me, Martha and Erika, along with Karimojong staff. We'll also be expanding our current ministry to local public elementary schools. Lord willing, next year I'll be teaching one course to the missionary kids -- the Great Books (Omnibus) course with Jamie and Josh -- and I'll be spending the rest of my time teaching at our preschool, doing administrative work for the school, and visiting the local public schools on a regular basis to teach literacy, numeracy and Bible to grades 1-6 and to provide some training for the public school teachers.
This is all still in the works, and the details are still a bit fuzzy, but I've got the green light to go ahead and prepare for my return. I would be glad to answer any questions you have now about our plans for next year.
The other thing occupying a lot of brainwaves at the moment -- I'm getting amped up for the RP Mission team, which will be arriving about two months from now! I'll be ending this term in Karamoja as the mission team leader, and I'm looking forward to serving alongside five young ladies -- my dear friend Kathryn Paar, Stephanie Godlewski, Liz Neel, Rachel Dinkledine, and Stacy Muir. I am itching for them to arrive... but in the meantime I want to make sure I help prepare them as well as possible via email for all they're about to see and experience. We are going to have too much fun completely!
Thanks for your continued prayers and encouragement. If I slack off on this blog again, please give me a swift kick in the backside and remind me to push through the writer's block and put fingertips to keyboard!
Alakara nooi (thank you very much)!
Emily
I'm still aiming for 90 days of blogging. Since I totally failed, I'm starting over. Please keep me accountable!
I have some exciting news -- I'm hoping to return to Karamoja in September for another year, after a two month summer vacation in the good ol' US of A. My role here will be changing, as will my funding situation, but more on all those details later. You'll be seeing a Facebook page, a website, letters, YouTube videos and all kinds of fun media shindigs promoting the Karamoja station's newest project, a preschool literacy and numeracy program run by me, Martha and Erika, along with Karimojong staff. We'll also be expanding our current ministry to local public elementary schools. Lord willing, next year I'll be teaching one course to the missionary kids -- the Great Books (Omnibus) course with Jamie and Josh -- and I'll be spending the rest of my time teaching at our preschool, doing administrative work for the school, and visiting the local public schools on a regular basis to teach literacy, numeracy and Bible to grades 1-6 and to provide some training for the public school teachers.
This is all still in the works, and the details are still a bit fuzzy, but I've got the green light to go ahead and prepare for my return. I would be glad to answer any questions you have now about our plans for next year.
The other thing occupying a lot of brainwaves at the moment -- I'm getting amped up for the RP Mission team, which will be arriving about two months from now! I'll be ending this term in Karamoja as the mission team leader, and I'm looking forward to serving alongside five young ladies -- my dear friend Kathryn Paar, Stephanie Godlewski, Liz Neel, Rachel Dinkledine, and Stacy Muir. I am itching for them to arrive... but in the meantime I want to make sure I help prepare them as well as possible via email for all they're about to see and experience. We are going to have too much fun completely!
Thanks for your continued prayers and encouragement. If I slack off on this blog again, please give me a swift kick in the backside and remind me to push through the writer's block and put fingertips to keyboard!
Alakara nooi (thank you very much)!
Emily
Friday, January 25, 2013
The Meat of the Goat
Tonight a bunch of us went over to Jim and Jenny's for dinner. They made an enchilada-type dish -- it was completely delicious -- and once we were all halfway through it and praising their cooking, Jim revealed that it was "the meat of the goat." I've had several goat dinners here. It's pretty good, mostly like beef; the taste is a bit different and I don't love it plain, but mixed with other things (especially taco seasoning) you don't even notice the difference.
Our friend Moses from the clinic and his two younger siblings joined us for dinner, then watched the movie The Avengers with us. It was quite a hit! They LOVED the Hulk, especially the part near the end where he's bashing Loki on the ground like a ragdoll. They kept showing close-ups of the Hulk screaming and flexing his muscles, and Moses would laugh and say bas!! Enough!! His younger sister, who's still in elementary school, spent much of the evening peaking out from behind a pillow, but she was obviously enjoying it just as much as her brothers. At one point we paused the film for a minute, and explained that America doesn't actually look like that (we don't all live in houses like Stark Towers) and we don't all have that technology in our homes.... funny what idea people must have of America when they've only seen the ritzy side of things in action movies.
We assured them that this first film made enough money that they'll surely make a second Avengers, and we'll be sure to watch it with these guys.
Another film we think they'll like is Cool Runnings... looking forward to the next movie night!
Our friend Moses from the clinic and his two younger siblings joined us for dinner, then watched the movie The Avengers with us. It was quite a hit! They LOVED the Hulk, especially the part near the end where he's bashing Loki on the ground like a ragdoll. They kept showing close-ups of the Hulk screaming and flexing his muscles, and Moses would laugh and say bas!! Enough!! His younger sister, who's still in elementary school, spent much of the evening peaking out from behind a pillow, but she was obviously enjoying it just as much as her brothers. At one point we paused the film for a minute, and explained that America doesn't actually look like that (we don't all live in houses like Stark Towers) and we don't all have that technology in our homes.... funny what idea people must have of America when they've only seen the ritzy side of things in action movies.
We assured them that this first film made enough money that they'll surely make a second Avengers, and we'll be sure to watch it with these guys.
Another film we think they'll like is Cool Runnings... looking forward to the next movie night!
Monday, January 21, 2013
You know you're in Karamoja when...
... you are walking up to watch an edonga (jump/dance) at a wedding, and an old woman grabs your hand and speaks in completely unintelligible ngaKarimojong while dragging you, against your will, towards the circle.
Martha and I were at the wedding of two mzungu (white) friends who live and work as missionaries in another part of Karamoja -- they decided to have three ceremonies, a traditional Karimojong wedding, a wedding ritual that's part of the tradition of the Samburu tribe in Kenya (where Val used to work), and a traditional Western style Christian wedding. We arrived between weddings one and two, and as we were trying to find the location of the Kenyan ceremony, we got pulled towards the edonga. One woman dragged Martha towards the circle to jump. Martha jumped a few times and seemed to enjoy it. I hung back; I did NOT want to jump (I've done it before, but I felt weird about it this time because there were no other young women jumping) but I also was losing sight of Martha so I kept inching closer; I didn't want to lose her.
Then the akimat (old woman) arrived, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. She grabbed my hand and started pulling me. I found Martha and pleaded with her, "please don't make me go in the circle!" Martha told the woman I was just a visitor and I was shy, but she didn't care. She kept pulling me up to the edge of the circle. At this point I knew there was no point resisting. There were basically no women jumping. If there had been I wouldn't have felt so weird about it.
The akimat was far to old to actually jump, so she just gripped my hand and swayed back and forth in time. Apparently I was just supposed to know when to jump (the men in the circle chant, and there are appropriate times when the women are supposed to jump, I guess to kind of emphasize what's just been said in the story.) If you don't understand Karimojong fluently and you don't know the story and the pattern, you're guaranteed to fail. When I've jumped before, I've always been holding the hand of a teenage girl who will squeeze my hand just before the right moment, so I'm prepared, and then she'll jump with me, show me how it's done. But the akimat wasn't really helping me out so I just tried to guess when to jump, and I was usually wrong. This caused no small amount of laughter from the people standing around me.
Then it got worse. Grandma decided this wasn't good enough. She pulled me INTO the circle (women don't go in the circle!) where a few men were jumping and chanting. There were at least 100 Karimojong watching, maybe more. I was so embarrassed. So now I have all the young warrior men with the feathers in their caps grinning at me while the akimat continues to try to force me to jump. She kept saying, "Iyeni iyong" -- "you know".. I kept saying, "Emam! Emam! Ngayeni ayong!" but she didn't care. This continued for a couple minutes, with the men about twenty feet away jumping, and me and the akimat standing awkwardly, sorta jumping/swaying/yelling at each other.
Well, this was becoming quite the show, so then the men who had been jumping stopped and went to the edge of the circle, so only the akimat and I were inside the circle. They kept chanting and I kept messing up the timing of the jumps. Finally I gave up and kept trying to pull away, but grandma had a strong grip and so she stood there swaying and I just stood still and refused to keep jumping, and laughed awkwardly at myself, and stared at all the young Karimojong women on the edge of the circle with pleading eyes -- please, get me out of this mess!! But they just stared back and grinned. Finally I said "temokin" -- finished -- quite firmly to the akimat, and we left.
I was mortified, of course, and so thankful that no one I knew was watching (besides Martha, but she was so bombarded by women who were amazed that she could speak ngaKarimojong that I don't think she knew what was going on!). I was kind of upset about it because it was completely embarrassing, but when I caught up with Leah at the ceremony she told me not to worry about it; just think about it in a positive way. Serious field cred. Not everyone can say they jumped with an akimat in the middle of a huge Karimojong edonga. And as horribly awkward as it was, it was strangely fun, too. But I can say that only in retrospect :)
Martha and I were at the wedding of two mzungu (white) friends who live and work as missionaries in another part of Karamoja -- they decided to have three ceremonies, a traditional Karimojong wedding, a wedding ritual that's part of the tradition of the Samburu tribe in Kenya (where Val used to work), and a traditional Western style Christian wedding. We arrived between weddings one and two, and as we were trying to find the location of the Kenyan ceremony, we got pulled towards the edonga. One woman dragged Martha towards the circle to jump. Martha jumped a few times and seemed to enjoy it. I hung back; I did NOT want to jump (I've done it before, but I felt weird about it this time because there were no other young women jumping) but I also was losing sight of Martha so I kept inching closer; I didn't want to lose her.
Then the akimat (old woman) arrived, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. She grabbed my hand and started pulling me. I found Martha and pleaded with her, "please don't make me go in the circle!" Martha told the woman I was just a visitor and I was shy, but she didn't care. She kept pulling me up to the edge of the circle. At this point I knew there was no point resisting. There were basically no women jumping. If there had been I wouldn't have felt so weird about it.
The akimat was far to old to actually jump, so she just gripped my hand and swayed back and forth in time. Apparently I was just supposed to know when to jump (the men in the circle chant, and there are appropriate times when the women are supposed to jump, I guess to kind of emphasize what's just been said in the story.) If you don't understand Karimojong fluently and you don't know the story and the pattern, you're guaranteed to fail. When I've jumped before, I've always been holding the hand of a teenage girl who will squeeze my hand just before the right moment, so I'm prepared, and then she'll jump with me, show me how it's done. But the akimat wasn't really helping me out so I just tried to guess when to jump, and I was usually wrong. This caused no small amount of laughter from the people standing around me.
Then it got worse. Grandma decided this wasn't good enough. She pulled me INTO the circle (women don't go in the circle!) where a few men were jumping and chanting. There were at least 100 Karimojong watching, maybe more. I was so embarrassed. So now I have all the young warrior men with the feathers in their caps grinning at me while the akimat continues to try to force me to jump. She kept saying, "Iyeni iyong" -- "you know".. I kept saying, "Emam! Emam! Ngayeni ayong!" but she didn't care. This continued for a couple minutes, with the men about twenty feet away jumping, and me and the akimat standing awkwardly, sorta jumping/swaying/yelling at each other.
Well, this was becoming quite the show, so then the men who had been jumping stopped and went to the edge of the circle, so only the akimat and I were inside the circle. They kept chanting and I kept messing up the timing of the jumps. Finally I gave up and kept trying to pull away, but grandma had a strong grip and so she stood there swaying and I just stood still and refused to keep jumping, and laughed awkwardly at myself, and stared at all the young Karimojong women on the edge of the circle with pleading eyes -- please, get me out of this mess!! But they just stared back and grinned. Finally I said "temokin" -- finished -- quite firmly to the akimat, and we left.
I was mortified, of course, and so thankful that no one I knew was watching (besides Martha, but she was so bombarded by women who were amazed that she could speak ngaKarimojong that I don't think she knew what was going on!). I was kind of upset about it because it was completely embarrassing, but when I caught up with Leah at the ceremony she told me not to worry about it; just think about it in a positive way. Serious field cred. Not everyone can say they jumped with an akimat in the middle of a huge Karimojong edonga. And as horribly awkward as it was, it was strangely fun, too. But I can say that only in retrospect :)
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Day 13: a wonderful kind of exhaustion
What a fun day! I'm completely wiped out, but in the best way possible.
The Tricarico family is back!!!
We had a welcome home dinner for them. The compound workers, especially Joyce and Lucy, were SO EXCITED to have them back, and were shocked to see how much Jamie and Josh grew during furlough. I could hear Pastor Al's laugh from the car before I could see him, which made me super happy immediately. I'm sure they're completely jetlagged, but they were good sports tonight and we had a great reunion.
I taught my usual schedule this morning, then had to empty out my fridge and scrub it clean -- it's being shifted to the visitor kitchen. I don't really need a fridge here in my little kitchen, I can just use the fridge Erika and Leah share in the Missionary Associate (MA) kitchen banda on the main compound. My kitchen/schoolroom feels so much bigger with the fridge and propane tank out of there!
Before lunch I did the reading (from Jerry Bridges book Respectable Sins) for our women's Bible study, which meets in my banda at 3:30 on Thursday afternoons. I did a bit more school prep as well. Then I dashed off for rice and beans and headed down to the clinic with Erika to pick up the Kyalo kids for their afternoon school time. Poor James is sick, so only Faith and Stacey came today. The Tricaricos arrived just after we walked back from the clinic, so we greeted for a few minutes. Then Faith went off to class with Erika, and I took Stacey (4 years old) and Jacob Okken (5) to my banda to do some work with numbers -- addition with fun flash cards, and a dominoes game that involves lots of counting, which they LOVE.
Around 2:00, the two of them went to the Okkens house to play outside. I took a fifteen minute power nap, then went to the MA kitchen to start making a big batch of naan (Indian flatbread) for dinner. I left it to rise and went back to my banda for Bible study.
The field right behind us was burning (don't worry, we have a firebreak!) and the smoke and ash were so thick in the air that I had to close my door and windows during the study so we wouldn't get smoked out. It still smells smokey in here, six hours later.
As soon as Bible study was over at 4:30, I went back to work making naan. With Leah's help, I managed to finish just at 6:00. Naan is so delicious that it's totally worth the time and effort to make it (making it for 25 people is just a lot of work!). We had Indian food for dinner -- Indian is my FAVORITE now, we have it all the time because there are enough Indian people working in Uganda that the ingredients are easy to get.
After dinner we just chatted and enjoyed each other's company. It's so great having the T's back!
Tomorrow will be a very blogworthy day -- I'm going to a traditional Karimojong wedding in a place called Nakayot, a "Peace Village" about 1 1/2 hours from here. Martha, Jesse, Leah, Erika and I are going. I'll try to take lots of pictures -- I'm hoping they'll wear the real traditional clothing (leopard skins, feathers, leather skirts, etc).
Right now I have to prep to give some tests tomorrow, then SLEEP!
Hope you're all well, I'd love to hear from you ~Emily
The Tricarico family is back!!!
We had a welcome home dinner for them. The compound workers, especially Joyce and Lucy, were SO EXCITED to have them back, and were shocked to see how much Jamie and Josh grew during furlough. I could hear Pastor Al's laugh from the car before I could see him, which made me super happy immediately. I'm sure they're completely jetlagged, but they were good sports tonight and we had a great reunion.
I taught my usual schedule this morning, then had to empty out my fridge and scrub it clean -- it's being shifted to the visitor kitchen. I don't really need a fridge here in my little kitchen, I can just use the fridge Erika and Leah share in the Missionary Associate (MA) kitchen banda on the main compound. My kitchen/schoolroom feels so much bigger with the fridge and propane tank out of there!
Before lunch I did the reading (from Jerry Bridges book Respectable Sins) for our women's Bible study, which meets in my banda at 3:30 on Thursday afternoons. I did a bit more school prep as well. Then I dashed off for rice and beans and headed down to the clinic with Erika to pick up the Kyalo kids for their afternoon school time. Poor James is sick, so only Faith and Stacey came today. The Tricaricos arrived just after we walked back from the clinic, so we greeted for a few minutes. Then Faith went off to class with Erika, and I took Stacey (4 years old) and Jacob Okken (5) to my banda to do some work with numbers -- addition with fun flash cards, and a dominoes game that involves lots of counting, which they LOVE.
Around 2:00, the two of them went to the Okkens house to play outside. I took a fifteen minute power nap, then went to the MA kitchen to start making a big batch of naan (Indian flatbread) for dinner. I left it to rise and went back to my banda for Bible study.
The field right behind us was burning (don't worry, we have a firebreak!) and the smoke and ash were so thick in the air that I had to close my door and windows during the study so we wouldn't get smoked out. It still smells smokey in here, six hours later.
As soon as Bible study was over at 4:30, I went back to work making naan. With Leah's help, I managed to finish just at 6:00. Naan is so delicious that it's totally worth the time and effort to make it (making it for 25 people is just a lot of work!). We had Indian food for dinner -- Indian is my FAVORITE now, we have it all the time because there are enough Indian people working in Uganda that the ingredients are easy to get.
After dinner we just chatted and enjoyed each other's company. It's so great having the T's back!
Tomorrow will be a very blogworthy day -- I'm going to a traditional Karimojong wedding in a place called Nakayot, a "Peace Village" about 1 1/2 hours from here. Martha, Jesse, Leah, Erika and I are going. I'll try to take lots of pictures -- I'm hoping they'll wear the real traditional clothing (leopard skins, feathers, leather skirts, etc).
Right now I have to prep to give some tests tomorrow, then SLEEP!
Hope you're all well, I'd love to hear from you ~Emily
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Day 12: Getting Back to Normal...
....Meaning, the Tricaricos are coming back tomorrow! Once they're here we'll have the whole Mission here, intact, for at least a few months. I'm excited to be teaching Geography and Omnibus II to Jamie and Josh, and of course getting back into the barbeque and bocce Saturday night routine.
It'll be so great to have this place humming at full capacity again, and I'm ready to jump into Omnibus (a Great Books course). We're studying early church history and the medieval period, which I LOVE, so I'm super psyched about this. I'm not ashamed to admit that I read the Great Books for fun (I was working my way through Plato and the Greek tragedies when I was working as a nanny in Rochester), and I really love ancient/medieval history, so this is right up my alley. Last year I was a bit out of my comfort zone teaching modern literature and history, but I feel totally confident with the material we're going to be covering this semester. First off, The Church History by Eusebius. Epic.
It'll be so great to have this place humming at full capacity again, and I'm ready to jump into Omnibus (a Great Books course). We're studying early church history and the medieval period, which I LOVE, so I'm super psyched about this. I'm not ashamed to admit that I read the Great Books for fun (I was working my way through Plato and the Greek tragedies when I was working as a nanny in Rochester), and I really love ancient/medieval history, so this is right up my alley. Last year I was a bit out of my comfort zone teaching modern literature and history, but I feel totally confident with the material we're going to be covering this semester. First off, The Church History by Eusebius. Epic.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Day 11: The B-I-B-L-E
The internet's being spotty and I'm not sure how long this connection will last, so I'll make this quick. I started a new Bible reading plan a couple weeks back that I LOVE, so I thought I'd share it with you. In the past I've avoided the read-in-multiple-places-every-day plans.... I always felt stressed out by them. Not sure why.
This plan (called Professor Grant Horner's Bible Reading System -- sounds terrifying, I know!) has you reading one chapter from TEN different books everyday. I've never attempted anything like this -- but so far I'm loving it because it gives you the big picture of how all the different parts of Scripture fit together. You're not really "supposed to" write anything down as you go, but I've chosen to write down one key verse from each chapter, which I can later use as a guide for prayer. It's been fantastic. I highly recommend it. You can find an online PDF (which I was never able to open, but I stumbled upon this on someone else's website, where the basic contents of the PDF were shared, as far as I can tell). I found out about this through Tim Challies website.
So give it a try, see what you think, let me know.... or just stick it in your back pocket for when you need to try something different.
This plan (called Professor Grant Horner's Bible Reading System -- sounds terrifying, I know!) has you reading one chapter from TEN different books everyday. I've never attempted anything like this -- but so far I'm loving it because it gives you the big picture of how all the different parts of Scripture fit together. You're not really "supposed to" write anything down as you go, but I've chosen to write down one key verse from each chapter, which I can later use as a guide for prayer. It's been fantastic. I highly recommend it. You can find an online PDF (which I was never able to open, but I stumbled upon this on someone else's website, where the basic contents of the PDF were shared, as far as I can tell). I found out about this through Tim Challies website.
So give it a try, see what you think, let me know.... or just stick it in your back pocket for when you need to try something different.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Day 10: Seriously Cheesy Music!
Today was a pretty great, average day. The Wright kids are currently studying the Age of Absolutism and we just read about the transition from baroque to classical music, so I busted out my Grove City College CivArts music and played them some Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven and Haydn. [This was decidedly NOT cheesy music.]
Then we had to leave my banda and go to the Wright's house to finish school, and the kids twisted my arm into letting them play Kenny G quietly in the background. There were no words and it wasn't distracting so I let them. Mary and Kipsy have acquired a serious love of cheesy 80s and 90s music (much of which I know from my childhood, so I love that they're into it! Such a blast to the past). The amount of Kenny G, Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, and Boys2Men pumping out of their boombox (YES, boombox) speakers is pretty much astounding. I absolutely love it. At one point Aaron Neville came on, and I totally remember his songs from when I was little... I went crazy with happiness and told them about the time we painted the upstairs of my old city house in Rochester and listened to Aaron Neville and Stevie Wonder the whole time. I recognize so many of the songs that I'll start singing along without realizing it, and we all bust a gut laughing.
Surprisingly enough, Ugandans apparently LOVE Celine Dion. As in, big tough Ugandan men totally dig her music. They play it everywhere, especially "My Heart Will Go On." Funny what parts of American pop culture filter down to us in East Africa!
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Day 9: Epol asimokok! Ito!
Last week, Rose taught me the ngaKarimojong word for spider, asimokok. "Big spider" is epol asimokok.
Today I thought I'd share a picture, taken by Dr. Jim Knox, of a spider that's happily building a massive web just next to the pit latrines at the clinic.
Jim knows I'm not exactly what you'd call a fan of spiders, and he kept nagging me to take a look at it. Finally one day I went over and took a glance... it's terrifying. It's huge. Thankfully every time I've walked by and looked at it it's been still.... if I ever see it moving I'll probably lose one of my nine lives.
But in a way it's terribly beautiful as well.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Days 7 & 8: Nakaale Primary School
The internet hasn't been cooperating with me for the past couple days (we're not exactly moving at Roadrunner speed here) and by the time anything was beginning to load, my computer battery gave up the ghost. Since we use solar power, I can't charge my computer at night, unless I want us to lose our lights till 8AM the next day (which is a bummer when you wake up with the sun like me and live in a dark hut).
So anyways, to make up for a couple missed days, let me try to post a few Nakaale Primary School pictures for you. During the school year, Martha Wright and I, along with the Wright kids and our translator Lokwii Paul (Omena) visit this school every Thursday morning to teach basic literacy, numeracy and a Bible story.
So anyways, to make up for a couple missed days, let me try to post a few Nakaale Primary School pictures for you. During the school year, Martha Wright and I, along with the Wright kids and our translator Lokwii Paul (Omena) visit this school every Thursday morning to teach basic literacy, numeracy and a Bible story.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Day 6: Serve. Proclaim. Disciple.
All day I've had a flurry of emails talking about this summer's RP Mission team coming to Karamoja. I'm really looking forward to being the team leader and showing some new friends around this place I call home. We're still working out the details: the official dates the team will be here (we're aiming for a 6-week trip) and how many will be on the team. Sounds like we're pretty sure we have four already, possibly seven or eight.
I really enjoy leading mission teams. I've only done it twice (White Lake 2006 and 2012) -- both times were really challenging but rewarding experiences. I'd say this past summer I worked with the best mission team I've ever been on, and would rate it the best mission trip experience I've ever had. Our team really clicked, we had so much fun together, we encouraged each other, genuinely enjoyed each other's company, and were constantly pointing each other back to Christ. I was a few years older than most of my teammates -- I was 24, most of them were around 19 -- and many of my teammates had just made the switch from camper to counselor. It was so encouraging to see a new generation rising up to serve the church.
I like the "mother hen" aspect of being a team leader. I love showing people around, encouraging them, trying to keep spirits up, helping such an eclectic group of people not just get along for six weeks, but become friends and truly approach things as a team. I've still got a lot to learn; I made plenty of mistakes at White Lake. I decided from the start that I wanted to lead by example, so I worked hard, whether that meant gathering firewood, cooking, cleaning, planning lessons, or taking over cabins and activities. My teammates were wonderful and they jumped right in alongside me. But I got so exhausted, and then got the sickness that was going around camp; finally I had to go home a week early, which was devastating. But I learned a lot about myself through that experience, and I was so blessed to see my wonderful teammates stepping up to make sure things would keep running smoothly even without a team leader. I'm sad I missed that last week of camp, but I'm so thankful for the encouragement the Lord gave me as I watched my friends so willingly carry my load. And I learned that I can't do everything myself!
Leading a team in Karamoja will be quite different, but I'm excited for the challenge. It will be strange to have this place, which is normally so quiet, buzzing with visitors, but the enthusiasm, probing questions, and boundless energy that short-termers bring will be refreshing.
We're still looking for guys for the team to Karamoja this summer! The girls slots are already full, but we have room for 2-3 more guys.
And there's ALWAYS a need for counselors at White Lake Covenanter Camp in the Catskill Mountains of New York. I won't be working at White Lake this year (for the first time in 7 years!) but I'll be at Family Camp, fresh off the plane from Uganda. I couldn't recommend that team highly enough if you enjoy working with kids and teens.
Go to the RP Missions website to learn more about either of these trips (and lots of other trips across the US and around the world!).
I really enjoy leading mission teams. I've only done it twice (White Lake 2006 and 2012) -- both times were really challenging but rewarding experiences. I'd say this past summer I worked with the best mission team I've ever been on, and would rate it the best mission trip experience I've ever had. Our team really clicked, we had so much fun together, we encouraged each other, genuinely enjoyed each other's company, and were constantly pointing each other back to Christ. I was a few years older than most of my teammates -- I was 24, most of them were around 19 -- and many of my teammates had just made the switch from camper to counselor. It was so encouraging to see a new generation rising up to serve the church.
I like the "mother hen" aspect of being a team leader. I love showing people around, encouraging them, trying to keep spirits up, helping such an eclectic group of people not just get along for six weeks, but become friends and truly approach things as a team. I've still got a lot to learn; I made plenty of mistakes at White Lake. I decided from the start that I wanted to lead by example, so I worked hard, whether that meant gathering firewood, cooking, cleaning, planning lessons, or taking over cabins and activities. My teammates were wonderful and they jumped right in alongside me. But I got so exhausted, and then got the sickness that was going around camp; finally I had to go home a week early, which was devastating. But I learned a lot about myself through that experience, and I was so blessed to see my wonderful teammates stepping up to make sure things would keep running smoothly even without a team leader. I'm sad I missed that last week of camp, but I'm so thankful for the encouragement the Lord gave me as I watched my friends so willingly carry my load. And I learned that I can't do everything myself!
Leading a team in Karamoja will be quite different, but I'm excited for the challenge. It will be strange to have this place, which is normally so quiet, buzzing with visitors, but the enthusiasm, probing questions, and boundless energy that short-termers bring will be refreshing.
We're still looking for guys for the team to Karamoja this summer! The girls slots are already full, but we have room for 2-3 more guys.
And there's ALWAYS a need for counselors at White Lake Covenanter Camp in the Catskill Mountains of New York. I won't be working at White Lake this year (for the first time in 7 years!) but I'll be at Family Camp, fresh off the plane from Uganda. I couldn't recommend that team highly enough if you enjoy working with kids and teens.
Go to the RP Missions website to learn more about either of these trips (and lots of other trips across the US and around the world!).
Monday, January 7, 2013
Day 5: "So, why are you guys not freaking out right now?"
This week I've been on vacation while the Wright family went to Kenya to drop their daughter off at boarding school. Anna's in the 11th grade at Rift Valley Academy, a fantastic Christian school where missionary kids from all over Africa come to get a great high school education and enjoy the benefits of school - extracurriculars, broader course offerings, friends that aren't hours away -- that are hard if not impossible to come by when you live in the middle of nowhere.
The family said their goodbyes and had just left the school in Kijabe an hour before getting pulled over by the Kenyan police. The same thing happened when I was travelling back from Kijabe with the Wrights a couple months ago. To be honest, it's a corrupt system, and the police are looking for bribes. Last time, Bob was charged with speeding, our van was impounded, and we had to sit in the police station for about an hour while Bob talked with the officials. The thing is, that old van can't speed. It starts vibrating violently at 80 kph (the speed limit), and their charges that we were driving over 100 kph are simply impossible.
Today, however, Bob actually got arrested and put in a jail cell for a few hours, while the family had to wait in the station for him. I don't have all the details yet, but from what I understand they got pulled over between 8 and 9AM and were there till after lunchtime. Thankfully they let Bob go and didn't keep him overnight.
We were all buzzing about it at lunch here in Karamoja, but we weren't overly concerned. We stopped to pray for them. We trusted that God had the situation all under control, and we figured that Bob would at the most have to spend one night in jail. When we told our short term visitor Rebecca what had happened, her face was priceless. She couldn't believe how nonchalant we were. "So, why are you guys not freaking out right now?"
What can I say? TIA -- This Is Africa! Expect the unexpected. Flexibility is key. And all those other schnazzy mottos that sound so nice and easy till you're standing in a Kenyan jail cell on false charges. Yup.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Day 4: Book Recommendation
Tonight, after our group dinner, Chris and Chloe Verdick, our college-break visitor Rebecca, and I had some really deep discussions about all kinds of difficult issues -- the death penalty, spanking, singles adopting, gay marriage, building relationships with unbelievers, the signs of true conversion, how believers deal with besetting sins, politics, alcoholism -- pretty much you name it, we covered it. Our discussions got heated at times, but it was good for us; iron sharpening iron. It's not easy having your thoughts on certain subjects stretched, but it's so beneficial to talk these things out with other believers.
I wanted to share one particular article which has to do with one topic we discussed at length: homosexuality, and what it looks like when a GLBT person comes to faith in Christ. I haven't yet read Rosaria Butterfield's book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert but it has been receiving great reviews, including this one by Carl Trueman. Rosaria was a radical feminist lesbian Queer Theory specialist and English professor at Syracuse University before becoming a Christian and marrying a Reformed Presbyterian pastor. I heard her speak at the Rose Point RP Church while I was in college, and I was so impressed and inspired by her story. This review is well worth a read, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of the book (Kindle version!).
There's a lot we can learn from Rosaria about how to be loving to GLBT people we may meet at work, at school, in church. According to Carl Trueman, every pastor should be required to read this book, especially the two chapters in which she describes with brutal honesty what she thought of Christians before she met the RP couple who would later lead her to Christ. I hope this book might be a blessing to some of you.
~Emily
I wanted to share one particular article which has to do with one topic we discussed at length: homosexuality, and what it looks like when a GLBT person comes to faith in Christ. I haven't yet read Rosaria Butterfield's book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert but it has been receiving great reviews, including this one by Carl Trueman. Rosaria was a radical feminist lesbian Queer Theory specialist and English professor at Syracuse University before becoming a Christian and marrying a Reformed Presbyterian pastor. I heard her speak at the Rose Point RP Church while I was in college, and I was so impressed and inspired by her story. This review is well worth a read, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of the book (Kindle version!).
There's a lot we can learn from Rosaria about how to be loving to GLBT people we may meet at work, at school, in church. According to Carl Trueman, every pastor should be required to read this book, especially the two chapters in which she describes with brutal honesty what she thought of Christians before she met the RP couple who would later lead her to Christ. I hope this book might be a blessing to some of you.
~Emily
Friday, January 4, 2013
Day 3: Girls' night under the stars!
Erika, Leah and I, along with our short term visitor Rebecca, are going to sleep on the Wright's roof tonight. The Wrights have a flat roof over Bob and Martha's office, with a wall all the way around and a good sturdy ladder (don't worry Mom, I won't roll off the roof!). When the Wrights are travelling and I'm looking after their house, Erika and I like to drag mattresses up there and sleep under the stars. However, when we slept up there a couple months ago the screeching bats were so loud I hardly slept at all, so tonight I'll be bringing a trusty pair of ear plugs!
I wish you could see the African sky on a clear night. It's stunning. Last year Erika, Leah and I watched The Lion King on the roof -- the setting of the movie looks a LOT like Karamoja, and watching Simba look up at the stars was a bit surreal. I'm a firm believer that you're never too old for a Disney movie!
It gets quite cold up there at night, so the cold air wakes us up early enough that we can watch the sunrise. I'll bring my camera and try to snap a couple pictures. Unfortunately the power lines they installed a year or two ago kinda ruin the view (which I wouldn't be too upset about, except that they don't actually work, and it may be years before the electricity is actually turned on!).
In the meantime, here a couple more pictures from recent months :)
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Day Two: All the Single Ladies... Christmas Photo!
| Left to right: Leah Hopp, village health instructor, me, and Erika Hopp, the Okken's teacher. I didn't have true Ugandan Christmas clothes, so I put on the only red clothes I own. Chris and Chloe gave me my first ever I <3 NY t-shirt; they found it in an Mbale market, and it's actually clean and fits perfectly! I was amazed. There's our Christmas tree: four cypress branches tied together. Leah bought the branches and Christmas lights in Kampala. We have a few Christmasy-colored Karimojong blankets and some ornaments and tinsel that Erika brought from America. We had a wonderful Christmas! I hope you did, too.  |
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