Josh's Journal

June 28, 2009
We just got home from church and have an hour before dinner will be ready so I thought I would take a few minutes and write. The kids are playing with our friend Julia. She is working here in Soroti (came from Indiana) and went to church with us this morning. Julia will only be here another month or so, but she gets along well with our family. She has babysat for us a few times so Mandy and I could go out for supper. She also goes to women’s Bible study with Mandy.
Today we had 37 kids in children’s church. That is such a nice manageable number. We are doing a series on the armor of God. Today’s lesson was standing firm in truth. We looked back at the story of Adam and Eve and how the whole problem with sin starts when we abandon truth and choose the confusion of lies. I also gave each child his or her own box of 8 crayons. The thought the crayons - which they could keep - were incredibly valuable. The crayons were left by the group that came out from Calvin Christian High School (see below.)
The last few weeks have been extremely busy. We hosted a group of 11 from Calvin Christian. Larry and Linda Klein took 9 seniors as part of a Global studies class. They were not here as a serve project; it was more of a tour, seeing what Africa is like and what is going on here. They were here in Soroti for just three days to see missions, culture and history. We took them to church with us where four of them helped out with children’s church. Later that day we had them here testimonies from teenagers who were abducted and traumatized during the LRA insurgency a few years ago. On that Monday we showed them our involvement with the blind. We visited SACAB to see the different things we have been doing with blind people here in town. Then we went to visit the first orchard we had planted two years ago. Nicholas (who owns that orchard) is always so excited to “see” us. He gave us a chicken and eggs. Even more exciting - some of his trees have oranges on them. I challenged him to give them back to God as a first fruits offering. On Tuesday we visited the Bible College and the resource room which Tim is starting up. Then on Tuesday afternoon we visited the Hindu temple in town. It was an eye-opening experience for all of them to see first hand “gods” which were made by human hands. Their visit was a huge blessing to us. They stayed at a Guest house just one block from here. We ate with them each evening. It was a great time of fellowship for us.
The day after they left I began teaching the Timothy Leadership training in a new village called Obule. We had agreed it would be a two-day workshop. About 20 local church leaders from three denominations meant. We had a good two days discussing the importance of visitation ministry. They closed each session by making an action plan for increasing their own visitation ministries in their churches. The following Monday I was off to Otuboi to continue the Timothy training up there. The numbers there are getting a little low - only 7. We are currently learning about how to teach the Christian faith - how to teach with the learner in mind, how to make a good lesson plan, how to teach differently to different age groups.
After all that excitement Mandy and I decided to take a weekend away with the family. It was also our 10th anniversary that week and Father’s day on that Sunday. We went to a hotel in Mbale which has a swimming pool and the only put-put golf course in all of Uganda. Julia went with us. We began the day by visiting Sisiyi falls, a water fall about 20 miles from Mbale. It was a nice view and an easy ten minute hike to the water fall from where we left the van. That evening Julia ate supper at the hotel with Lydia and Grace while I took Mandy (and Luka) out for an anniversary date. We went to our favorite (the food is great but the atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired) Indian restaurant. When we got there the waiter asked if we wanted to eat on the roof. Sure. We followed him (since we had never been up there before) through a dark stairway to the top of the three story building. There were just three tables on the roof. It was one of the simplest, most romantic, and memorable anniversary meals we have had. We had such a nice night.
This weekend a few of our team mates had birthdays so we all decided to climb a local mountain and roast hot dogs at the top. Unfortunately, Lydia had the flu so I stayed home with her and Luka. Mandy and Grace went with the group, but the mountain was overgrown (grass more than 6 feet tall) so they were not able to get to the top. They went back to Tim and Angie’s house (I joined them) for a campfire instead, then it began to rain. We all moved into the house, then the electricity went out. On nights like this I have learned to just go to bed and be thankful for your bed, bug net, and the clean water to drink. Be thankful for the stability here in Uganda, the healthy family I have, and screens on our windows. Be thankful that most nights we do have a fan and electricity, that we have others here to fellowship with. Be thankful that…we have soooo much to be thankful for. Yeah, go to sleep on that thought.