Friday; Children and Culture

Friday morning Leah and I got up to watch the sunrise. It was pretty, but we didn't climb the water tower as we'd planned. We went back to bed for a minute. I got up and showered and then woke Leah. She said she wasn't feeling good. I told her to stay in bed.

I went to the breakfast area to tell Martin and Mark that Leah wasn't well. Then I went back to the room to give Leah some tea and make sure it was able to be entered by guys. Breakfast was a standard bread with different stuff to put on top of it, tea or coffee. We had our team meeting. Since Thursday was the day I taught, the rest of the conference was fairly free for me. After breakfast Martin stopped into our room to check up on Leah. A very funny conversation late, Martin had given Leah his instructions on how to take care of herself. (We all went away wondering if she'd actually follow said instructions)

Martin had arranged for Leah and I to go to the Community school with the German women who had been working there for 8 months. It was their last day at the school, so they were throwing them a party. Due to the fact Leah was ill, I went alone. By then Sabina (one of the German girls) and I had become friends. It was a real blessing to go see the beautiful children, and to not be the center of attention. I sat at the back of the class and took photos for Sabina. It was incredible to see the love that was out poured.



The children danced and sang, and at one point broke out crying. All the teachers honored the Germans. It was clear that through their teaching at the school they had made an impact. It was hard to watch Sabina cry... she really didn't want to leave Africa. They'd lived with the community for 8 months. Sabina's heart for Africa is similar to mine. :)

On my way back to the compound, I passed where Bahati and Clemintina and some of the other community families stay. Bahati was home and welcomed me into their compound. It was a blessing! I tried on one of her outfits, and we discovered that we are the same size. We'd decided that I would surprise everyone on Saturday by dressing in a more traditional African dress.

I got back to the compound and checked on Leah. I visited with her for a while and told her about the school. I'd missed tea, so I went in search of the small bananas they served for Leah. I found Maria who was delighted to help me, with her bright shining smile. She gave me a huge plate of bananas, which Leah and I sat and snacked on until I went for lunch.

That afternoon I finally got to attend a University Tool Box session. It was given by PM and was about giving our testimonies. We then broke into groups of three. I had an incredible chance to help the two guys I was working with articulate how God had worked in their lives. It was a really productive and good time.

I don't remember what we did for the second afternoon session. We may have just had time to get ready for that evenings entertainment. Each small group had to come up with either a poem, dance, song or drama for that evening. (My groups was pretty terrible.) Throughout the day there was continual checking on Leah and making sure she was drinking water.

That evening, while most people were at mass, I went for a walk through the large community garden. It was a peaceful time for me. It was good just to be out among the unfamiliar plants, walking on beautiful red earth. I found a large square pit, it was at least 7 feet deep. It was as though God was showing me a pallet of the reds He had used to create the African dirt. It was truly breath taking. It was good just to be.

Then dinner, more prep work. Then we all were ready for that evenings entertainment. It did not disappoint! Some of it, we westerners totally didn't understand. We taught a dance, us Westerners. On one level it was funny, on another, terrible. But most of the entertainment presented was an incredible look into Ugandan culture. During that nights team time we were all really tired. We had one more day until the end.

I have been terrible about updating this blog. I know that. But I think that there is more to it than the fact that I am on holiday in Ireland.

I have traveled extensively in my short life. Many places have stolen my heart. I leave them and experience the pain of being away from that place acutely. But that way of living is hard, to always be torn into various numbers of pieces, wish you were somewhere you aren't. I've moved away from that way of being. Which is one reason it's challenging to write here. I want to share my experiences with you all. Yet reliving them just makes me want to be there. So please, be patient with me. I am trying to learn to be more present.

Anyways, I defiantly want to share about Thursday of our time in Africa.

Thursday was the day that I was most involved in teaching. With the help of our African team members, we decided to take a whole day to cover the area of Christian sexuality. I already wrote about the various meetings for prep that we had.

So that morning Leah and I woke up a bit early. We were going to go watch the sunrise, but were both too tired to get out of bed. We managed to stagger to morning prayer. After morning prayer I skipped the first part of breakfast (just seeing everyone and chatting lightly), to shower and make myself feel human. I quickly joined the team, got some prayer for the day, and ducked off to finish my notes before the session started.

The session opened with Clemintina introducing the speakers and the day. Then Martin gave a basic overview of Genesis 2. After about 15 minutes, I got up and gave a teaching/testimony following Martin's teaching. The goal of the talk was to impart an understanding of God's purpose and plan for sexuality. It was a great blessing to be able to share from my heart, with my African brothers and sisters, what God has shown me in this area. It was a classic Noelleishly passionate talk. :O The team had a fantastic laugh later about how I speak. :D



Then Amlin and Folgencio got up and just reiterated the points which they thought most important from what Martin and I had said. It was good to have them put in their point of view from a married couples position.


After the talk we had a time for a panel discussion, where people asked questions. It was alright... could have been a bit better I think. Then we had tea break and came back in a split session. So the girls met in the normal meeting room. This was space for specific discussion about issues which women would need to talk out. It was on some levels a sad discussion... the Ugandan women face terrible things. (One example: "Sexually Transmitted Marks") It was painful to hear about how corruption effects these women's everyday life.

After the talk ended, Leah and I were both exhausted. We went for a rest directly after lunch. We were awakened before our alarm went off by a loud banging on our door. We tried to wait it out... sometimes that worked. It didn't. The person kept knocking. I hid under my sheet, half asleep, while Leah answered the door.

Long story short there had been a mis communication (surprise surprise... haha) Basically people thought that one on ones were right then... not later. So we rolled out of bed and made our selves presentable. Eventually we figured out we'd just sit on benches around the compound and if anyone wanted to talk they could. I spoke with 3 girls, it was a good time of sharing. It was prep for that nights meeting.

After one on ones we had tea (the 5 pm tea). I don't honestly remember if I went to mass or not. I think I might have. After mass, as usual there was dinner and a team meeting. The meeting solidified the plans for that evenings prayer meeting. The prayer meeting was to start at 8... but the church wasn't open. It actually was really cool to all be gathered in the dark, outside the church, "learning" a song from PM (most people already knew it). The coolest part was when the church opened we all processed in singing "Let the fire fall".

Martin gave the exhortation, we had some worship, and then prayer ministry. All of it was excellent. I love worshiping in Africa. :)

We once again had team time in the evening. And I believe Leah and I stayed up fairly late talking.

I was pleased with how the day went.

Wednesday... this is when we stopped journaling

I think that tuesday night was the last night Leah and I wrote in our journals with a blow by blow of what was going on. Not because I didn't want to remember, but simply because by 11:30 on Wednesday night I was so tired that writing was the last thing I wanted to do.

So, these next several days will be a bit more scattered in terms of what exactly happened.

Wednesday: A much better day.

We were up at about 6:30 again. In Africa it's not as hard to get up at this hour. Life really revolves around the sun. The sun starts coming up at 6:30, and sets at 7 or 7:30... every day. So every morning going up to morning prayer I got to look out from the steps of the church and see the beautiful African sunrise.

I slept very well on Tuesday night, which I was incredibly grateful for. Wednesday morning Clemintina, who was aa African member of the team, gave an excellent meditation of 1st John. She spoke about being children of God. It really inspired me.

Some mornings I left the actual church and sat on the benches near the compound gate. On Wednesday I sat and looked at the beautiful earth beneath my feet. It is a deep red. My toes are still stained from it. (May they be forever) There was a good view from those benches, I could see part of the road and the well which was just outside the compound. Lots of people used that well. It was glorious sitting under the trees, praying, and watching the world I want to be a part of.

Once again team breakfast was at 8, with a meeting attached. We gathered at 9ish and I am sure that we had some silly song presented by David or Charles. Wednesday we started with another scripture talk. This one was about Old testament geography. Leah did an excellent job explaining how geography effected the history of Israel, as well as giving an over view of important dates and ruling empires. I learned a lot.

We had small groups after her talk. I had been given a new small group because a bunch of people had joined the conference late. So we had a good amount of time to get to know each other. I really liked both of my small groups. They asked a lot of questions (good questions) about biblical history. We had a good time getting to know one another.

We had tea break and then had session two. Alfred was back to do part 3 and 4 of his series. I think that the 3rd talk was about Being Proactive. I had asked Alfred the day before if we could have lunch together on Wednesday. So after the talk I met up with him and we sat together at the end of one of the long tables in the dinning room and had a really good chat. I heard all about what Cornerstone is doing. I asked a lot about what they do and how they do it. Pretty much they are about bringing up a new generation of good, strong leaders for Uganda (and actually all over Africa) so that change can be brought about by people of true character. It's incredible work they are doing. I told him my situation... he asked flat out what was keeping me from moving to Africa. I explained. I look forward to seeing how our paths will cross again.

The next session, also by Alfred was about writing our personal statements. He did an excellent job of articulating the need for goals and how to see them from start to finish. I think this was when he picked up the guitar randomly and sang the "Song I sing when I am defeated". It was in his first language (they all speak at least 4... not counting English)... and it was inspiring. I love how language isn't often about the words, but the message.

Alfred's session was earlier again, so we had a long afternoon break. I met with Clemintina on the benches under the trees. It was a wonderful (WONDERFUL) conversation!! :D We really became real friends there. We talked about everything. She had incredible insight into her own culture, which was so helpful. I learned so much from that woman. And we laughed a lot too. Then about 5 pm, Martin came over and was available to meet about our talk for the next day. This was an excellent time.

Pretty much he told me I wasn't allowed to use the out line I'd been given. I hadn't really wanted to, but thought that it was the material that we "had" to cover. He stole it from me and asked what I would talk on if I didn't have it. I told him I'd speak from the heart about my own experience of freedom and redemption in regards to the area of sexuality. He said... go for it. It was freeing. So our talk came together nicely. We agree to speak with Amlin and Fulgencio that night about the rest of the talk. (I don't know how to spell their names!)

At mass that evening, going up to communion, I got to randomly hold a little girl's hand. I thought it was Clare, but realized later it wasn't. It was a profound experience which truly solidified my desire to be the mother of African children.

7 pm sounded another dinner and team meeting. These meetings generally were just about how the day was going and what to expect that evening and the next day. This amount of communication was actually needed. At 8:30 we had another session with Dallas and PM about doing University work. I actually only heard one of their sessions... due to how things worked out.

I was scheduled to give a testimony at the start of the session. So I did. I spoke about my experiences in Grand Rapids and how having a Christian group at my university helped me grow in my faith during college, as apposed to loss it. The testimony went well I think... I ducked out of the meeting room right after I gave it. Martin and I walked over to Amlin and Fulgencio's house... it was my first time in an African home! We sat for about a half an hour sharing with them how we envisioned the next day going. It was a peaceful and helpful time of preparation.

Walking the short distance back to the compound the stars were incredible. Martin and I had a good chat. I was standing in awe of the fact I was in Africa. Instead of going to the rest of the session, I needed the time to work on my talk for the next day. About 40 minutes later Leah stuck her head in the room and asked if I was coming to team time because everyone else was there. I hadn't realized the session had ended, so I hurried over to our eating room.

I think that evenings team time was one of our funniest. I think the first question Mark asked for was the funniest things that had happened that day. So it was great. Then several inside team jokes were created about awkward dogs, and all in all it was a great team meeting... especially when we ALL cracked up when trying to pray over Martin. (A big part of this was that we were all pretty tired and getting really comfortable with each other... it was a great team of people!)

That night Leah and I talked for a while. I think she talked me to sleep... sleep which was needed for the next days happenings.

Day Four: not all a bed of roses...

Tuesday was the hardest day of the trip for me. It didn't start well... Something happened with my mosquito net during the night and I think there were more mosquitoes in my net than outside of it. They are loud, and rather annoying. I didn't get a lot of bites, I just didn't sleep almost at all. (I can't function very well without enough sleep)

We got up at 6:40. The schedule of the conference was such that we had morning prayer all together at 7 am. It was a lovely time of praise, a nice meditation and then some quiet time. At 8 am we had our first all team breakfast. We tried to work on the schedule and get some practicals sorted as we learned to work together.
At 9 we started our sessions with a scripture talk by Mark. Then we got into our small groups to get to know each other better. I was leading a small group with David, which was a fun group of people. At the tea break I purposely sought out Fr. Herold, an American Franciscan who had come with a group from the South of Sudan. You don't run into random Americans in Africa ALL that often, so I wanted his story and to get to know him a bit. We had a good chat.

This tea we had the little mini bananas which are PACKED with flavor. Other than the fresh pineapple... they were my favorite snack. The second session of the morning began at 11:30. Alfred, a Ugandan man who works with a group called Cornerstone, gave a series on the 7 habits of highly effective people. He basically took the 7 habits and infused Christ into them and presented an effective way to live your life as a motivated and driven person, for God! It was a wonderful series, and a great testimony of Unity as Alfred is part of the pentecostal movement in Uganda.



Alfred and the Euro/American team

We had lunched and I helped with the dishes, which is always a joy. At 2:15 we were back for another talk from Alfred. Thankfully he is a very engaging speaker, so we stayed awake despite our lunch filled stomachs. The talk ended at 4 and I went directly to meet with Mark to review some of the material for my talk. I wanted a nap more than words at this point. I was exhausted. The meeting with Mark went fine, and we decided to get a guy on board to help me give the talk. I met with one of our Ugandan team mates then to work on the talks... and gave up all hope of a nap...

I tired my best to explain the material and come up with a way for us to give the talk together. It was challenging to communicate it. Finally we left after a little less than an hour, saying we'd have to work more on it the next day. I went to mass exhausted and rather drained. At dinner, I spoke with Martin briefly and he expressed concern about the set up for the series. We said we'd meet after dinner. Another long team meeting followed dinner, and then Mark, Martin and I put our heads together. At this point I was exhausted beyond words, had worked hard all day and was emotionally and physically drained. The meeting went alright, but everything was changed for the series.

We decided that Martin and I would give the first talk together, and we would ask a married couple from the community to join us in giving it. We also decided that we would do split mens and womens sessions. That was fine... I was just done. So after wash up I asked Mark if I could skip out on the prayer meeting that night... as I was pretty much useless at that point. He said of course, and ordered me to rest.

I went to my room and collapsed on my bed... Leah came in and we talked for a bit. Then she ordered me into bed and left for the prayer meeting. I stayed in bed for a bit, but the music from the church was too loud to actually sleep. I showered and prayed.

It was helpful to sit down at that point and take a minute to consider where I was at. When I sat and thought about it, I realized that I was actually not physically feeling very well. I'd just been ignoring it. I was also exhausted and under spiritual attack. It really helped to realize that all of these factors were at play and that it wasn't just that I am a weakling.

So that night we had team time and I heard that the prayer meeting was fantastic, that Dallas had done a great job leading it. I also had come back round and was able to share my challenges but that I'd really experienced peace during my prayer time while everyone was at the prayer meeting. During that team time I managed to dump pretty much my entire bottle of water onto my self. I found this hilarious...

That night, in our room, Leah and I had a good long chat and most of it was laughter. It was great to be able to rehash the funniest bits of the day and just laugh at them.

I survived my rough day, and was grateful to the team for the prayers which helped me rest 100 times better that night.

Day Three...finally

I am now settled in Dublin for the next 3 weeks or so. I will hopefully be able to get the rest of these posts done!

Monday: Day Three.... Start of the conference.

We were told by the community members to expect between 30-100 people to participate in our conference. There was no pre registration... no paying before you came... you just got on a Matatu (they are taxi like mini buses) and prayed you made it. (Or got into your land rover and drove 14 hours on dirt tracks like the Sudanese) In other words we didn't know what to expect on Monday morning as people started trickeling into the compound.

I got up at 7 to make sure I got my prayer time in before the day started. Then took a shower... which faced east, the sunrises in Africa are really beautiful! (It's a land of sunrises not sets). At 8 am we gathered for a time of team prayer and I think we talked about how the day would go as well. We breakfasted after that. Breakfast was generally bread with either a sort of peanut butter, or marmalade or butter..there were about 6 options for the bread... and then tea or instant coffee. Coffee is actually really expensive in Uganda(across Africa actually) ... which is ironic because the best coffee in the world is African.

At 9:30 we met with our African team members to start getting to know one another nad get things set for the week. We created a schedule where there really hadn't been one. (We actually stuck fairly well with it too!) After the first section of meeting together, we had tea break and then I worked with David, Clemintina, and Dallas on the Christian sexuality talk materials to see if this was something that should be dealt with. The African felt that it was something that we should cover.

One thing that led to eventual frustration for me was to work on something... for a long time... and then not do it, or the plan being totally changed. I learned a lot through my experience of this in Africa. I was the one who was in charge of getting the Christian sexuality materials together and presented. The end result (was very good) was very different from what it was going to be at first. But it was good for me, I am glad that I got to learn a lot of those lessons through this experience.

They say in Africa... "Blessed at the flexible, they will not break"... I think I grew a lot in flexibility.

Clemintina and I worked on the session some more... but what we came up with never took place. I like that Africans don't get (visibly) frustrated with these things. I think that Africa is really good for me.

At one pm we had lunch with the team. I noted in my journal that is was really good. I think it was pasta and rice with the meat over it.

After lunch we had free time until the conference started at dinner time. I got to know several of the community's children... Micheal, John Paul and Clare. All of them were afraid of white people, except John Paul... who seems to have a thing for white women. He is 3 years old.

I met and greeted a lot of the students as they came into the compound, as well as meeting more community members. After a bit I went for a walk and followed my friend Angela to her house. We sat in their bed room for a long time and she told me her heart breaking story. We prayed together, and talked. It was really life giving for both of us to share in suffering together.

I then spent some time talking to some Kenyan men, Ben and Denise. They were two of the people I got to be good friends with. (Later on Ben ended up in hospital for 2 days with Malaria and Thyphoid) While talking to them I had several children gathering shyly around my legs. They refused to be introduced to the Kenyans, but just held onto my skirt.

I got some tea with the team and then at 6 we all went for our opening mass at the church. Everyone had gathered... though we did get a good number of people who came late. The mass was excellent, very lively and full of beauty and life. Dinner came next, and I spilled David's water everywhere. I can be rather clumsy at times...

At some point in the day we met Charles who arrived to help facilitate the conference. He is Ugandan. We washed up and then went to the conference opening. The chairs were all full! I sat next to a woman named Angela... a different Angela... who was very fun and dynamic. Everyone was introduced and we had a great time of praise and worship. I loved how we danced in worship! I was right at home...

After the session I was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. But Mark stopped me and said we had team time. I didn't want to have team time, I wanted my bed. But we went... we all piled into Martin's room so we could have some peace and quiet. Martin busted out Haribo Star Mix ... that was great. I was able to articulate the things I was finding challenging, as were the rest of the team (I think). It was a good time to check in with everyone and make sure we were all ok. It became a tradition... no matter how late it was. The late night team time provided some truly hilarious moments!

After team time I laid out under the stars for a while. Leah came over for a bit and I gushed about how incredibly happy I was to be laying on African soil. :D

It was a good start.

Day Two: My first day in Africa

First off.. I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to get to posting here. I have been traveling in the UK... which has meant fairly unpredictable schedules. So, I will do my best to get all this up in a timely manor.

Day Two!
We woke up at about 9:15 in order to get to church on time. Leah and I dug out our skirts and tshirts, which is the appropriate wear for rural Africa. We were both rather tired after traveling.
We got to church with plenty of time. It happened to be the last mass of the priest who had started the community, 18 years ago. So it was a bit more of a big deal than it would have been. They had dancers process in and 4 opening songs! Most people were moving and praying with great joy. It was really beautiful when they brought in the scriptures, they had another procession to proclaim the Word of God! The priest even started dancing.
The Homily (sermon) was excellent. It was about being chosen, called and sent. He also talked about how when we go forth in the power of God we don't have to take a lot with us. It was a very inspiring message. Then he gave some gifts to the Emmaus Community which were really beautiful.
(Side note: In English we would say Emmaus... but because the center was founded by a German, the name is pronounced A-mouse. No one will know what you are talking about if you say Emmaus)

After mass we "freshed" up. I ran to take a show, I felt so gross! We ate some food around 11:30, then I think we all rested and got our selves settled.(taking much needed naps) At around 4 pm we met up again to go exploring. Euphrasia offered to take us on a proper tour. So we got to see where some of the community members live (in houses just outside the retreat compound). And then she took us around the large farm area. They have several acres of land devoted to farming. They also have a large number of pigs, a few cows and some chickens.

After our tour we met as a team to pray and get ready for the week. It was an excellent time of worship and prayer as we went into this time of service.

That evening was a celebration/goodbye to Fr. Sievers (the community founder). It was actually a blessing that this happened on our first night because we weren't the center of attention. We just got to enjoy, watch and learn about the culture. After the meal the other community founder, Joseph, met us just outside the dinning room. He prayed with us and that was a real blessing. Then we were invited to help do the dishes! This was a huge blessing because they never would have allowed us in the kitchen if this meal hadn't taken place!

It was an incredible time. I just decided to dive in and make friends. I ended up singing with Maria and Angela... two women who over the course of the week became my good buddies. We sang "We are marching in the light of God" to different words... mostly.. "We are washing in the light of God". We laughed and laughed and it was so wonderful! I felt very at home!

Then the team headed back towards are rooms, but ended up standing around and talking for a good while.

I think that night I went out to look at the stars. They were amazing!

We rested up so we were ready to start the conference the next day.

And so we begin... Travel Day 1

3:45 am, Saturday July 11th... Leah and I roll out of our beds. Thankfully most of our stuff was all together to grab and walk down the block to meet the guys at the Servant's of the Word house. The taxi was right on time and we easily made it to the airport.

We stood in a long line for a quiet a while, until we got pulled out because we'd done online check in. After that it went smoothly checking our bags and getting through security. Sadly Dallas had his peanut butter taken from him.

Some got coffee or breakfast, and we chilled in the airport until we boarded. Flying to Amsterdam takes about an hour. Flying over the Netherlands was cool.. you can see all the dikes!

We had a quick stop over in Amsterdam. It was odd because they have security at every gate. We couldn't figure out if it would save money or not. For the flight to Nairobi I sat next to Mark, with Leah on the other side of him. PM and Dallas were elsewhere.




Flying over the Sahara was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! It was over 3.5 hours over the desert! And there were farms... and mountains. It was amazing. I have a rather chilling story about that as well, but it's not the type you post on a blog. Feel free to ask me when you see me.






The flight was over 8 hours... the last hour and some I always get antsy. So I went and talked to PM for a while.

Once in Nairobi we had some time. We were all tired, so we walked the length of the terminal we were in several time and then found a spot to camp out. Mark and I both slept some on the floor, the rest of just talked and read. The boarding calls were a bit confusing... so we went to our gate and once again were routed around the line and into the security area. Apparently our flight was before the others.

While in line we found Martin! Martin is a member of the Servants of the Word, a group of single for the Lord men. He was going to Uganda for 2 weeks to work with the community that we also were going to serve with. His roll was very different than ours... we were running a conference. He was helping the conference center (Emmaus Community) to develop. However, he was an invaluable help for the whole time we were there.

Once through the not so secure security we waited in a big room with a lot of other people. After a bit, Martin went to check that we were in the right place. We were't ... we just crossed to another connected room and walked out to our plane.

It was my first time standing on African ground!!! :D (We weren't allowed to take pictures in Kenya's airport)

It was late by now... I think we got onto the plane to Entebbe, Uganda at 10:30 pm. We'd been up since 4 am! But PM and I managed to have a great conversation as we flew to Uganda... another short flight.

Once in Uganda the five of us stuck together and got our visas as a group. It took a little extra long because they had a swine flu health check before going through immigration. Immigration was a breeze... just give them $50 and they let you in the country!

We met up with Martin again at baggage and everything came through! Some things were stolen from our luggage... but it could have been much worst than it was.

As we were walking out of the baggage area Martin turns to me and said "So Noelle, you made it"

I looked over at him, did a little dance (which Leah and Mark had to witness on the plane) and I said

"Martin, I feel like I've come home to a place I've never been." And that was the truth.


We came out, stood for two seconds, and then suddenly there were arms around us, hugging us, grabbing our bags, and welcoming us to Uganda.

10 of us piled into a mini bus taxi and we were off.

At 2 am we were in our room in the Emmaus Center, Uganda.



(We flew KLM/Kenya Airways... AMAZING!!)

Before the details...

Before I go into a detailed explination of what we did in Africa, I want to take a moment to say a few quick things.

I went to Africa knowing that it was somewhere I thought I wanted to be.
I left Africa knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that I want to live there for a very long time.

I went to Africa with a vision of how human dignity should be lived out.
I came back with friends, and a deep understanding of how love can reach across bound, especially skin color.

Skin color is a funny thing, something which should bring humor and joy.

I LOVED Africa. I felt so at home in Uganda, at peace. I fit in well with the culture and the people. I made friends with both women and men, something which I have been told is hard.

Many people asked me when I had been to Africa before. I asked one of my friends, Clementina, why this was. She said it was because I greeted people and spent time with people.

I loved how the people move and dance in worship, how they sing and don't hold back. I loved how they hold each others hands just to show friendship.

The continent has officially stolen my heart, her people are my people, for we worship the Living God.

My work now is to patiently wait, and do whatever I can to get back to this land.

I am back in London!

So I am back from Uganda in one piece... except I left my heart behind with the continent of Africa and her people.

I had an INCREDIBLE trip. There will be many updates and photos over the next several weeks. Stay tuned!

The Team

The Team!!! From Left to right...
Dallas Burkholder (Ann Arbor, MI), Paul Michael Graham also known as PM (Glasgow, Scotland), Mark Jordan (Originally from Glasgow now living in London, England), Leah Moran (Dublin, Ireland)

Please pray for us! We leave tomorrow morning at 4 am! :) It's going to be a long journey, but we know God is with us.

From Morning prayer this morning... 1st Cor 16: 13 and 14
"13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love."

Pray that we all can live that out.


Just for artistic sake.

A quiet day

Tomorrow everything starts. We have training, the whole team (well almost) will be together. I am excited to see the team and how we will all interact. I am not really concerned about whether we will get along or not. I am just excited to see how we will compliment each other.

I took today to rest, write talks and pack. I am about 3/4 of the way done with my talks... and about the same way through my packing. I am finding the lack of stress a bit disarming, as I am use to having all of my motivation be based on a strict due date and approaching deadline. Now granted, talks and packing have those things. But it has a different tone about it.

Tonight will be dinner with the Brothers, then out with Bob Bell. :) Leah M comes in tonight, the only other woman on the trip and a good friend from Dublin.

I will try to post pictures of people soon, so you know who I am talking about.


Prayer Requests:
- Spiritual protection and strength as we all go into this adventure
- Unity and love among the team members
- Clarity of mind as we all prepare our talks
- For Mark Jordan as he prepares to lead the trip.
- For all of the team as we start our medications, there none of us experience side effects!

Pray I see a giraffe!

SOAS and rain bringer

I went this morning to the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Mark J took me there before a meeting he had in town. It was a very pleasant time. I learned a lot about their programs and talked with various people.

You know you are a nerd when... I was standing outside the book shop looking at the discounted books. They had course packs which weren't going to be used the following year for sale for only 2 pounds. However they weighed a lot more then that. I was so torn before "Human Rights in the Developing World" Or "Development; evidence and experience" I went for the ladder because it was lighter. Which was sad... because the Human rights one looked equally awesome. Is it really really nerdy to say I fully intend on reading the course pack??

It's been raining. Last week was an incredibly hot and beautiful week here. Not so much this week. Mark and I came out of the tube to POURING rain. We got the bus home. I think that I am a rain bringer.


This afternoon was talk prep with Mark, and getting my phone together. I am off now to write my talks! Please pray God inspires me! :)

Quote of the Day: "Ok, so all I have to do is find a UK to US converter. That way I can plug that into your US to Europe converter and actually charge my phone in Africa." - Mark Jordon

A very long, but now completed journey

Once in a blue moon I wonder if I am getting a little old to be bouncing all over the place, traveling from place to place. These thoughts really only hit when I am about 20 hours into a trip, I haven't slept, and am realizing that things aren't going as planned. I had a couple of those thoughts yesterday.

Yet they all have disappeared now and I am 100% sure that travel is in fact something I love and am suppose to do. This is, of course, now that I am over jet lag.

My trip started at 5:40 am,July 4^th 2009… when Jaci and I got up. I packed up the last of my bags and ran around the house... forgetting to do about 10 things. We made it out of the parking lot at 6:44... and got to the TINY Grand Rapids train station. We were able to sit for a while and take in the beautiful morning before I got on the train and rode to Chicago. It was a pleasant train ride.

In Chicago I managed to find my way to the subway station, get my ticket, and get on the subway. At Ohare everything went well... I had about an hour wait before the luggage check opened. Everything went perfectly through security all the way through the trip... didn't get stopped once. I made a friend who was going to Dublin, we chatted about what to do and see there. Before getting on the flight we met two other woman, one from England the other also from America. The two other Americans had never left the country, so the English woman and I gave them lots of thoughts and ideas. It was fun! I love people...

I didn't have a seat mate on the flight. I managed to sleep for max 2 hours. But that was ok... I survived. I was on the night side of the plane (during the summer when you fly to these islands the sun doesn't set on one side of the plane... it's always light) But on my side it was dark and the moon was bright. I checked on the moon from time to time and got to watch it set in a blaze of orange moonish glory. It was beautiful.

The lack of sleep was rough, but really only made the trip tough at one or two points. Shannon was one of those points. The plane stopped at a small town called Shannon in Ireland. Most of the plane actually got off this time (that doesn't usually happen). But it was an hour until we were underway to Dublin... a very long and boring hour. It's hard to read or do anything productive when you've been awake all night and are being told that it is 5:45 am.

But we made it to Dublin in a very timely manner. ALL of my flights were early/ right on time! That is a blessing. In Dublin the immigration officer looked at me sideways as they always do. I promised I wasn't even going to leave the airport. Just let me go to London. He was nice enough. It was fun being in Dublin, it was hard to leave though. Looking at the hills which I saw every day for 1.5 years did my heart a lot of good. I wondered why I hadn't been back sooner! I was very grateful that I knew I would be returning for sure this trip.

Made it to London, I actually got a bit of sleep on that plane. My bags were some of the first ones out... another blessing. However, I noticed the top of my backpack had gotten wet.... didn't find out why until later...

Currency exchange then down to the tube (subway/underground)... thankfully I asked someone which train I should take to Acton Town because there were no signs to tell me which direction the trains were headed. He told me that the line wasn't going all the way there and that I had to get off at a different station and take a bus. This worried me slightly, as I didn't know how that would all play out. I, and most of the train, did get off at the other station and there were buses waiting.

Now when Americans think of riding a bus, it's a pretty standard, safe, unexciting thought. Not so here in London (well all of the islands). See... there isn't much space here and the streets were built a very long time ago. The buses go a) really fast and b) are very big... generally two levels. The drivers are really really good at what they do... it is 100 times more exciting to ride a bus here than in Grand Rapids. I enjoyed it a lot.

I made it to Acton Town Station, which is under construction, and didn't see anyone I knew. I'd been given an address "if all else failed" and it appeared to have done so. I took a moment to collect my thoughts and get myself sorted and ordered a taxi. The taxi drive, an immigrant from somewhere who had an incredibly large and jagged scar all the way across the back of his head, was an engaging conversationalist. He asked my thoughts on our last two presidents and then told me how everyone over here feelings about Bush... which I am use to hearing.

He took me to the Turners where I am staying... there was no one home. BUT there was a note on the door. The poor taxi man thought that I was just going to be lost and wandering. I convinced him that I was totally fine, as the note had a "detailed" map on it. He said ok... but that he wasn't liable if anything happened to me. Haha.

On the map, provided to me by Mark Jordon, the Servants of the Word (the brothers) house had been indicated. I made a V line for it... it was the closest house on the map, only a block or so away. I always feel ok about just showing up at any of the SofW houses… I don’t care what country I am in. I was really tired at this point and pretty much just wanted to see someone I knew. I rang the bell and after the 2nd rings Vo came down. What a blessing... he looked at me for a moment and I introduced myself. He did remember the one time we'd met. He gave me a glass of water and let me use the phone to ring Mark.

Mark came over as Vo and I caught up a little. It was soooooooo good to see Mark! We realized later that it had been 2 years since we'd seen each other, though we'd talked. Mark took me to the Women's house, where his fiancé Rachel met us. It was really good to hang out with them. I got my wedding invitation. It was good to be back in a row house.. hmm. I took a bit of a rest, but got to the point that I realized that if I stayed in bed any longer I'd just sleep all day. So I got up. I went to change my clothes and realized why my bag was wet...

My shampoo had opened and emptied into my big back pack. Thankfully not in the big clothing section. That was an adventure. I pouted for 2 seconds to Mark, but then moved on. The trip had gone too smoothly for something like this not to happen. Mark made me laugh, so it was all good as I cleaned shampoo out of my 3 inch heels.

At about 2:30 we went to the men's house to watch the Men's tennis final. It was a blast. Lots of great people, really good tennis... fun and very funny (mostly because of how tired I was and how much I love the British sense of humor.. the pims helped too) times were had by all. It was really good to see various friends and make new ones.

Rachel and I had to leave at 6 (before it was over!) to go to mass... which was really really good. The Perrems were there, so afterwards we got dinner at Subways with them. Then Rachel, Annie and I got a pint at the pub across the street. That was really good times... just to chat it up.

We hurried back to get my stuff before they went to a meeting. I had to go into the guys to get my purse and keys... even though it was Mark's bachelor party...it was fine. I went to return the keys, giving them to Andrew Bull and was about to hurry out of the house when I heard "Is that NG??" I turned around and it was Bob Bell!! I gave him a Huge hug and we made quick plans to see each other while I am here. What a blessing!

Then Dominic was a gentleman and drove me round to the Turners. I had some water and a chat with Mimi, before watching a bit of Who wants to be a millionaire with Mimi (who should go on the show… she knew every question!)... then I was actually very tired and went to bed. I slept really really well and feel really good.

Now I am clean, happy, content and am feeling incredibly blessed.

I am so happy to be back in this culture! Now off to lunch and a walk... perhaps an afternoon cricket game with the Everingtons!

Little Blessings

Donations are coming in, more than I expected. I am really experiencing people's love during this time. A lot of people have rallied, there have been 100 different ways people have helped me in the last week.

My roommate Clarissa, who is one of my best friends, gave me a gift today. She is an artist, and I asked her to decorate a journal for me. She did such an amazing job!! She didn't decorate the cover, but the pages with incredible illustrations! I am blessed beyond words.

I do not deserve the love and care of those around me. Yet God, in His infinite love, reaches down and shows me love through those around me.


Jesus, help me to love everyone I meet... no matter where I am.


I am praying I get to see a giraffe in Africa. I really like them.

Step one: Trust

So here it goes... while I will not be able to blog while in Africa, I thought that I would start a blog about this adventure. Perhaps this will stay around for other African adventures too.

My situation is as follows:

About a week and a half ago I was invited to go to Uganda with a group of people from the Sword of the Spirit international communities. This was very out of the blue, and a whole ton of things had to fall into place. But they all did! I graduated sooner than expected. I was able to get my vaccinations, which was a miracle.

I went on a conference this weekend, which was excellent. And now I find myself sitting in my room surrounded by boxes, bags, clothes and other odds and ends. As I consider the start of this blog the thought that comes to mind is...

Trust.

I am, in a different way than other times, learning to Trust God.

In the next week and a half I have to move, fund raise, finish my work and internship, shop for things I need to go and say good bye to everyone in Grand Rapids. This could stress me out. It could disrupt my peace. But through it all I know that I have to trust that God is with me. That He will be my strength, that I need to rest and hope in Him alone.



The Lord is my strenght and my song, and He also has become my salvation.