United Team/ Conflicting Worlds

The imposed rule that I have set is that the first cryer of the day is responsible for writing the blog. This is usually in place by breakfast and today was no exception. The long day yesterday was a great way to gel the group but also wiped us out. The clinic took us way into darkness last night. What we planned to do in 2-3 days the local doctor tried to force into 1. The group did an amazing job. As the sun set the mosquitoes came out in FORCE so I took a break to see what was happening in the back of the house and lather in bug spray. Among the amazing sites: Blake taking blood pressure and pulse, Tamara working hand in hand with 2 doctors giving assessments and shots, Amanda giving mouth exams and photographing the many decayed teeth and Nicole doing eye exams in the DARK with flashlight on either end. The exhaustion has brought us to a new place in the trip..

There is a point in every trip here when the realization of how we are perceived here comes crashing on you in a very real way. For Ugandans we are called Mazungu. This term of endearment is one (mostly) of respect. There are very few white people in the villages so we stand out from a distance. In many ways our presence is celebrated. We are invited to sit and visit with strangers, we are invited to shop or buy from any vendor, and we are greeted by most who see us on the street - nearly always from the children. From the surface this word Mazungu has an endearing quality. Translated; however, the word means rich white person. In Uganda rich and white are indistinguishable.

This is the point in the trip where the cross of cultures hits home. I stood in John's (out sponsor child) room yesterday for about 20 minutes. The colored concrete floor had been hand swept before I arrived and I stepped over several pair of flip flops in my muddy running shoes to sit on one of the beds. The room has a standard size locally made metal door and a small window. The walls are plaster taped with notes, report cards and occasionally etched with some art and markings of one of the residents. The wood rafters holding the tin roof are covered with running shoes, back packs, drying clothes and lanyards of the mosquito nets that drape the 3 metal bunk beds. At 2 in the afternoon it was mostly dark in the room and there is no lighting or power. I sat and cried for a while at the contract of our worlds. This room would be unsuitable back home for 2 prisoners. Here six boys were proud to call it home. Proud because in this part of the world a plastered wall and a metal roof are nicer than the street or a mud hut. Proud to have a 4" piece of foam they call a mattress to sleep on. Proud because they come from the streets. I sat there thinking about the house I am building at home... 1 bed for every kid and a bathroom for each sex... A castle to anyone in this country. I was embarrassed. As I stood to leave the room I read the sign at the bottom of the door neatly written "Please remove your shoes".

Our kids eat 3 meal a day. For breakfast they eat porridge - a spiceless watered down version of our oatmeal made from corn. For lunch and dinner (everyday) they eat pinto beans and posho - cornmeal stewed into a mash. At the house we have been eating at a large wooden table covered with 2 table clothes. It takes the whole room to feed the 13+ of us leaving minimal room for a fridge, computer table, floor mounted fan and a cupboard with all of the plates, silverware and coffee mugs. There is a large window facing the front yard that has old white sheets with a blue floral print neatly sewn together and hung on a strip of bailing wire attached to a wooden window frame by 3 temporary drywall screws. Our meals have been different from the kids. WE have been treated to many favorites from here and home. Mac and cheese, fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, chicken, goat, beef and eggs. TO drink we have ice cold bottled water or a selection of Cokes and local sodas. At night when we eat we close the window sheets. I am told that it is to keep the neighbors from looking in. I have my doubts... I am fairly confident that the 6 foot tall plastered courtyard wall keeps their views blocked. Closing them seems to be a bad idea too since it stops the only real airflow into the room. Nevertheless, we close them. I HAVE noticed that they do a fairly good job of disguising what we are eating from the orphans playing on the other side in the front yard. I am not sure they would really mind or be surprised. The only place to wash food is in the back courtyard that connects the house to their rooms and their outdoor unplumbed bathroom. The only way into the house from the courtyard is through a see thru screened door that leads into the kitchen. Needless to say, I am sure they are aware of what we eat. Sitting in the dining room this morning, I really felt like an American as I "earned" the right to blog today. I felt like an American doing our part to "help" the needy hiding behind a transparent sheet.

The truth of our trip is that we have become more aware of what we have and what people here don't. By the time we leave I will have many new and strengthen Ugandan relationships, 11 new American friends and many stories to tell. My hope is that we can look beyond the things we "have" a gain an appreciation for what matters when you don't... Pride for what you do have, thankfulness, and a clinging to God's provision as though life depends on it. It really does regardless of what you "have". My prayer is that both cultures can find genuine discipleship in the process.

Your Kingdom Come

Brian

Side Effects

Wow, I am tired!!! The days are getting long, but no less interesting. Mefloquine is an anti-malarial medication that I am taking while I am here, and if you look it up on Google, you will see that there are some interesting side effects. I have been experiencing some very strange and lucid dreams. At about three this morning, I woke myself and a few others in my room up when I shouted, "Stop!" I was dreaming that we were playing with the children and Colton comes running up and starts spraying me with pesticide. These dreams are so strange...

I woke up at about 6 this morning and again watched most of the sunrise from the front yard. I prepared my lesson for VBS this afternoon and waited for the others to wake. Jaimie, Colton and I went for a pretty good walk through town and were able to interact with a few locals. Everybody in Africa is 'fine' if you ask them. Just before breakfast Jaimie and I went back out and bought some chappatti from a sidewalk (closer to side dirt) vendor. Chappatti is pretty much an extra thick fried tortilla and it is delicious! Breakfast ended up lasting almost until lunch, so the post holes we were planning on digging didn't end up dug. There is this funny concept here that we are told is called Africa Time. Nothing is on time and agendas and schedules are absolutely worthless. A doctor may tell you that he will be over at 9 in the morning and if he shows up after lunch it is no big deal.

After lunch was time for VBS. So much fun! We started by teaching them the song and motions to "River of Life," and I think that most of the non english speaking children learned it faster than I did. I followed this with a teaching introducing Paul to the kids. I then taught about the free gift of love and grace from G-d that Paul discusses in Romans 6 and how this love naturally changes everything within us as we learn to let more of ourselves be given to G-d as explained in Romas 12. The children are very smart. Phil and the New Grace school have done a wonderful job teaching the children. We finished VBS by learning a number of African games and making name tags for the children. Next, we took a trip to a small house that many widows call home that Phil and Hope Africa have been helping along with all of our orphans. The widows welcomed us, danced, and sold a lot of us some beautiful floor mats.

The highlight of my day was definitely meeting a new family member. I have sponsored a child by the name of Paul Munyes. He is 12, loves math, and would love to be a bank manager after finishing school. My BS was earned in mathematics, and I worked at a bank so we do start with something in common. He was very shy when I first met him today, but was soon opening up and smiling a lot. The relational customs here, as I mentioned before, are much more comfortable with little need for personal space. It is completely natural for the boys of any age to come up and just hold my hand. As Munyes became more comfortable, he was soon holding mine.

Blessed are you, Lord, our G-d, King of the universe for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for bringing us to this moment.

Pancakes, Praise, and Pizza

Iganga. Day 2...or is it day 3? Either way, the saga continues! I don't think my new Riverside family realizes just how long winded this gal can be when I was nominated as blogger this morning. So get comfy, you might want to grab a snack and some water.

This morning we were greeted by Colton helping make banana pancakes to the musical stylings of Jack Johnson. That's right folks, Banana Pancakes. Double thumbs up.

Sunday. Worship day! After our lovely breakfast, donning our Sunday accoutrement, we piled into the vehicles. Aza, one of the boys who's crippled from Polio, had been left behind and needed someone to push his wheelchair. Brian promptly volunteered and started the trek towards the church. After we were all finally locked and loaded and headed down the way, we came upon Brian and Aza. Susan promptly raced toward Brain's, ahem, rear, honking. Completely unphased, he promptly sat on the hood as she came to a stop. When they started up again, Aza started turning the chair back and forth so they moved in a serpentine pattern while Brian stuck out his tukus and wagged it about. I'm scarred for life. Thank goodness we were headed for church. Everyone in that car, not to mention within visual distance, needed LOTS of prayer. It became follow the leader. Get a picture: wheelchair, Brian (whose hips don't lie), and a car following very closely, honking the whole way; are you with me here?

Africa Riverside church is part of the school, New Grace, and the service was amazing. I've never seen worship like that. And it had nothing to do with the singing, dancing, clapping, prayer, or sermon, it was their hearts. What a contrast: those with comparatively so little had the most passionate, heart-adoration in their worship of our Lord. The minute the entire congregation sang together, I instantly had a vision of worshipping together in heaven. This visit isn't really a visit; it's an introduction. These are brothers and sisters we'll spend eternity with. I cried. I did that a lot today. I shared during our morning devotion that God continues to bring perspective to my heart. It's a common saying that for those who are lost, this life is the most heaven they'll ever see, while for those who are saved, this is the most hell they'll ever see. What an amazingly vivid picture that is here. That made me the first cryer of the day. And thus, the blogger. Watching them, it's evident the joy of the Lord is their strength; He is their comfort, their provider, their all in all. Here it's more than a concept, more than a Bible lesson. It is very literally visible in their daily lives. In short, church was wonderful: singing, dancing, preaching, sweating, crying, sweating, praying, did I mention sweating?

Next on the agenda? Lunch. We had an extraordinary treat; Phil and Susan took us to a local resort to eat, and word had it that the whole fish was the way to go. Several of us, including me, went for it. I took pictures, and I'm very sad our internet connection prohibits uploading. I can just imagine y'all reading this as you're enjoying breakfast, and BAM! Fish head. Sadly, that awesomeness cannot come to fruition. It. Was. Delicious. We had an opportunity to eat, relax, an enjoy the scenery of the resort.

Susan requested homemade pizza for dinner, and a rumor was spreading that Nicole had the 411 on making some. So we headed into town on the way home to pick up ingredients. The market, which was more like a large convenience store, was an experience; mostly local stuff, and several name brands – even Johnson & Johnson bath products. No mozzarella, so sharp cheddar fit the bill. Let me tell you, Nicole was sweating the thought of making said pizza from scratch. Not Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade, homemade homemade. She worked tirelessly for hours prepping all the toppings: bell peppers, mushrooms and Iganga breakfast sausage, and making and cooking the dough. I swear I saw her twirling that dough like a native Italiano. Mama mia! I don't know what she was so worried about; mega awesome pizza.

We spent time with Phil's kids and the neighborhood kids; lots of games, and tickling, and laughing, and hugging, and pictures. Colton and Ryan even had the kids singing “I want candy!” at the top of their lungs. Awesomeness.

After such a day, I was sure it was done and I sat to start my blog. Then I heard guitars and singing. Colton, Liz, Kayla and I went out front to discover Ryan sitting in a group of kids in the almost dark, singing with them. We joined in the fun. The girls got us to sing and dance with them. They tried to teach me a dance they do. They laughed hysterically. I can't imagine why, it was perfection. There were two little girls that I put my arm around while we sat and sang, and they didn't let go. They clung to me so gently and lovingly. I had my arm around the torso of a smaller girl, probably 7 or so, and she just kept rubbing the hair on my arm with her hands and face. I'm sure she was just fascinated with a hairy muzungu, but it was so sweet. I used to do something similar to my Mom when I was little; I loved to rub and smell the hair on her arm. You guessed it, I cried as stealthily as possible when I made the connection.

When our time was over, I came inside and started the blog. I got about as far as church when Phil called us out to come and see the dancing. All of the girls were gathered on their back porch singing and dancing so energetically. Which might I add just proves my theory that we're all born with an allotted amount of energy and expend the vast majority of it in our youth. Blake was cutting a rug when I first arrived (I ran for my camera as quickly as possible), then they began selecting us to take turns, yours truly included. Such fun, it was. We were all hootin' and a hollerin' and dancing away. Don't worry, blackmail-worthy photographic evidence will make it back to the states.

Since this will likely be my only blog, I have one final thought. As we all sat around the table tonight, cutting yarn for VBS crafts tomorrow, prepping medical charts, uploading pictures, and me blogging away, I realized something; we are all exhausted long before 8:00PM, but we continually stay up until almost midnight. It's not just the activities or preparations, it's the fellowship. It's the time we have together that we can talk and laugh and recharge. God is so good. He put together a motley crew of Jesus-lovers who love each other too. Each and everyone of them have indelibly marked me, and I can only hope I do the same for them. We genuinely like and enjoy one another, and that's quite a statement.

Africa is not what I expected in almost every way; I have so much yet to share, but that will have to wait for another time. Although I'll be coming home after a while, most of my heart will stay in Africa.

Everyone sends much love, hugs, and kisses to everyone back home. Thank you for holding the rope while we got in the basket. We love you!!!

~Amanda

Arrival in Iganga

When I arrived at the airport a few days ago, my wolf pack was just one lone wolf. It quickly grew to twelve. This is the story of how it grew even further.

What a day! We travelled from Entebbe to Iganga. The distance would probably take only a couple of hours on I-35, but this journey took about six hours. We stopped in Kampala at the Walmart of Uganda, called Game, and a supermarket. We bought snacks and toured the stores for a rather long time while Phil went to secure our hotel reservations for the trip back into town. We continue… Kampala is crazy. Motorcycles, vans, and trucks litter the underdeveloped but massive city and drivers vie for position. We also stopped at Phil’s mechanic’s shop and visited for a while. It was here that I began to learn the hand shaking customs of Uganda. The men softly hold your hand for an extended amount of time. Even knowing this coming in, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat awkward the first time. The men will even walk hand in hand and arm in arm. Colton wouldn’t go for it.

We got back on the road and stared out the windows. The land is beautiful with much more vegetation than I expected. The people are friendly and the children laugh and wave at a van full of muzungus (white people). The driving is hilariously fun. At one point Phil, in the truck ahead, went to pass a big truck and trailer. We follow. Suddenly a Toyota Corona (no typo) passes us as well. Here we are, three wide on a two lane road, and I look up to see the grill of a large Mercedes truck bearing down on us. We avoided catastrophe and I could not stop laughing!

We stopped in a forest at a roadside market. The vehicles were surrounded with men and women holding out chicken on a stick and roasted bananas. We begin with the chicken, which a few of us were admittedly a little alarmed at the appearance. It as insanely delicious! We then begin to see the rest of the “on a stick” specials: livers and gizzards, beef and I think a lizard. The roasted bananas that we were each looking forward to actually terrible and I ended up with Kayla’s half chewed first bite on my lap as she frantically dug for money to buy some beef on a stick to wash out the flavor of the dried out corpse of a banana. We continued down the road.

Entering Iganga we drove through a stretch of bars and restaurants in little mud-brick shacks. The televisions inside were so loud that we could hear the vuvuzelas from the street. We arrive at Phil’s home to children yelling “Phillipo!” We emerge from the van to what seems like thousands of smiling and laughing faces. Children run, spin, and dance to us to hug and to say thank you before we have done anything. The tears were impossible to hold back. My final initial greeting was a darling little boy staring up at me with somewhat timid eyes but also full of curiosity. I crouch and hold his chubby little body close.

After unloading, we come out to play. We spend an hour arm wrestiling, roaring, dancing, singing, hugging and holding hands. At one point I think I had fifteen little hands in each of mine. My wolf pack had grown. We howled like a pack of twelve year old Ugandans and a bunch of happy muzungus. Eventually, it was time to say farewell for the night Thank yous are amazing and tears come again. Dinner and laughter say goodnight.

Father, thank you for more safe travelling, for good meals, and great company. Thank you for opening our eyes and breaking our hearts only slowly- any faster and we may be blinded. Please give us hearts for all we meet. Please give us hands to do your work. Please give us feet to walk the path. Please give us eyes that see like yours. Please give us ears that hear the cries. Father, please continue to protect us. Please continue to break our hearts. Please continue to hold our family’s hearts in yours. In Jesus name.

Genesis

Well... So I am brand new to this whole blogging thing. I have read many a blog before, but have not actually ever made my own contribution to the cacophony of the internet's most eloquent voices.

So, I guess the first question is, "who am I?" I am Ryan Jacobson. I started as the Missions Coordinator at Alamo Heights United Methodist and New Heights Community Church roughly a month ago. I come by way of a couple years at USAA and the years previous to that earning a Math degree.

How did I get here? I think that the best way to answer that question is to let my story unfold slowly as I learn the story of the new place that I find myself. The way that the stories of this new community, the people within it, and my story begin to interact with and entwine with each other will be an adventure for me and I hope for many others along the way.

Tomorrow, I embark on the beginning of five weeks of amazing travel. I will be heading to Iganga, Uganda with a crew from Riverside Community Church. The Riverside Community has for several years supported an orphanage in Iganga. Under the leadership of an amazing man named Phil, the orphanage has provided food, shelter, education, and support for hundreds of children. I am honored to continue our relationship with these people and greatly look forward to spending time with our children there. We will be doing a VBS, medical testing and inoculations, and vocational training. Most importantly though, we will spend time loving on hundreds of kids that need it.

Following the two weeks in Iganga, I will return home for a few days and then leave again for Israel. I will be following Pastor Scott Heare as we hike the country from the desert to the Galilee, learning the historical, geographical, and cultural context of the Bible.

I look forward to getting to know everyone in this new community. I look forward to telling you my story, but mostly I look forward to hearing yours.

Check out these links for more info...
http://www.supporthopeafrica.org/
http://www.followtherabbi.com/