Catching up on Life

Hello all,

It has been far too long since everyone last heard from me. Life responsibilities have stepped up ten-fold since my last summer in Africa. I recently graduated in the worst time possible for employment. As a single man this conflict would barely be a cause for worry because I have a tent, woods, and survival skills; however, a week after graduation I got hitched. So now I am responsible for my wife's well being as well as my own. My woman does not want to live in the woods so we moved into a little on bedroom apartment. With bills, mouths to feed, and future plans financial structure is necessary. Thankfully I was able to land a job from NC State (where I graduated). Here I will be doing research on lagoon sampling. Whoever said that crap didn't matter? I have a four-year engineering degree and I am doing research on animal waste and I LOVE IT!!! I am such a dork. Anyway, I am learning a lot through this opportunity that will eventually provide me with knowledge and experience I can take overseas.

God isn't done with Aya (my wife) and my life. He is calling us to go on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. This means that, as I work, we will be raising financial ministry partners so that we can have the funds to meet students at NC State and challenge them with the fact of Christ. We will also have a tremendous opportunity for spiritual multiplication with discipleship and Bible studies. This will hopefully, with God's power, give students an unshakable foundation set on Jesus Christ. Regardless, Aya and I are dedicated to this calling and we look forward to see how God will stretch us through this time of tremendous responsibilities.

I have been challenged with acts of righteousness maintaining my spot in the Throne Room of God; however, that is a lie! Only the blood of Christ allows me to approach the Throne in confidence. Any other attempt will produce immediate death and separation. It doesn't matter if I have led students to Christ, been in God's word, and feed the hungry...I still deserve God's wrath. Therefore cling to Christ. Throw yourself prostrate at the mercy seat of God through Jesus. Let this humility fuel your life and your time in His word and prayer. Do not lean on acts. Be encouraged of the gospel.

John

Hello all,
If you are getting this email, it is because I have assumed that you
are interested in receiving emails about my journey in Uganda. If I
was wrong and you could careless, email me and I will take you off the
list.
As of right now it is noon here and 5am NC time. It is my second day
in Uganda and I am so grateful to be here. I miss all of you,
especially Aya, but I am very thankful that I get the opportunity to
serve Uganda. Everywhere the staff goes we get called "Mazungu" which
means white person. It is really cute to see the little children stop
and yell out "hello Mazungu." We are in the outskirts of town near
Kampala so we get to experience village life which is much better than
city life (mainly because of traffic and crowds of people).
The food is incredible here. Some things are different in taste and
do not look appealing but they are extremely good. I haven't had
anything out of the ordinary. As far as expenses go, one American
dollar equals 1600 shillings so we make it out pretty cheap for food
and clothing but gas or petrol is much more expensive here. It is
about 6 dollars a gallon and unskilled workers make about 20 American
dollars a week. So keep in mind that we, despite our complaints, have
it very well in the US. There are several gestures that we use
everyday in America but are taken wrongly here.
Hopefully these will make you smile:
A yawn in Uganda means you are hungry and people will give you food.
An eyebrow shrug with the sound "hmm" means yes in Ugandan culture.
Pregnant women will not say they are pregnant even when noticeable
because they don't want their baby to be cursed.
If you make eye contact with a woman while talking with them it means
you are very interested in her.
public displays of affection are very vulgar. the only affection you
will see is man to man or woman to woman (like holding hands).
Argentines would hate Uganda.
opening and closing your hand in a "hello gesture to a kid" means to
come here in Ugandan culture so if you do that in the village, kids
will flock to you.
someone who says they had to take a "short call" or a "long call" are
references to the bathroom.

I will send more culture differences when I think of them but that is
all for now. Other than that not much has been happening because we
are still going through orientation. Carbs and starch are the big
things you will always eat here which can be rough on the stomach but
I like it alright.
The bugs are not bad. Compared to Alaska, this place has very few
insects. I continue to take malaria medicine but bug spray isn't
necessary.
They have warned us that we will get a stomach virus or sickness while
we are here but that you will get through it. I don't look forward to
that but I still love it here.

If yall have any questions email me and I will include it in my next email.

I love yall, take care. Nick you are going to love Uganda. I wish I
could commit to a semester.

John

Oliotia ba sebo (how are you people?)!
gendy (fine) or belunge (a more formal fine) or so so (not so good but I keep on living)
It has not been too long since you last heard from me but a lot has happened here in Uganda. First of all I wanted to let everyone know that today is our first official day of work! We get to help complete a project in Tanzania until next Monday when we go to Rwanda to do our specific project. The power likes to go out a lot here; it normally is not for the whole day but typically it can last 12 hours. It makes getting work done hard but I am able to navigate well because I always keep my headlamp with me. Saturday I attended my first Ugandan concert. Ugandans call a concert any performance. This one was at the church I will be attending, Amazing Grace Assembly. The church has no glass windows or a solid door. It is rectangular hut that can comfortably house about 20 people; however, Ugandans like to pack people in so on Saturday there were about 50 plus adults and children. The children sit against the wall and the adults sit in the plastic chairs. This concert was said to start at 2pm but Ugandans are not time conscious so the actual concert started at close to 3pm. Here we got to experience cultural dances and songs. The Ugandans do not have much sound equipment - all they have is a keyboard and some speakers so they like to play the different beats that come with the keyboard even if they do not quite fit the song. Ugandans are all about rhythm so they like beats and drums. During traditional dances they have two drums that resemble a jimba (however you spell it) and beat on that thing harder and faster than you would think human hands can take. While the drums cause the fast beat the men dance all over the stage in aggressive motions resembling masculinity while the women put on these waist bands that have got hair on them and shake their hips. It is very impressive and very emotional. The Ugandans who perform really get into it. This concert lasted longer than we could so we left after four hours. No telling when it stopped.
Church was kind of the same story. Church lasted over 2 hours which consisted of worship songs in Lugandan and Swahili and English as well as a Lugandan message that is translated into English. After the service (which was very solid Biblically) everyone comes to greet you. The church is small and in the middle of nowhere but a good deal of the members are very Biblically grounded.
We went to the mall in town Sunday evening to look for ear plugs. The walls here are very thin and you can hear everything that goes on at night. Sometimes it is unsettling because you will here people crying or dogs fighting but most of the time I do not sleep sound because I have a roommate who can blow the roof off with snoring (it is by far the loudest I have ever heard).
Anyway, we got lost last night on our way back because it was very dark and we met a young man around my age who walked an hour out of the way to show us the right direction. We talked about American culture, God, and education. It was a huge joy to meet thing young man and I am thankful for him.

If you have made it this far thank you because next are some prayer requests that I would love to have you apart of:
- pray that we would continue to be initiating in conversation despite tremendous culture shock
- a good nights rest so I can get up early and have quiet time with God
- people here who are hurting economically, physically, and emotionally because their government only cares about money for themselves (it will make you more thankful for our government I guarantee)
- wisdom in doing my assigned tasks and problems and designs
That is all for now. Thank you for reading.

Much love,

John

Hello everyone.
I hope you look forward to reading these emails. Again, if they are too
burdensome for you let me know and I can easily remove your name. I will
not think of you as any less of a person.
I started my first official day at work on Monday. I normally get up
at around 6:30am to have some quiet time with God and then work starts
at around 8am but we always have office prayer at 8:30am. It is so
incredible working with a Christian ministry. Having God as your
focus everyday makes work enjoyable because you know it is for His
sake and nothing else.
Our first assignment was to go to a city and retrieve bus tickets for
our trip to Rwanda next Monday (at that time I will be unable to send
emails) and also get a color cartridge for the printer. Well we have
never been to this city before but we had a map so we figured we could
make it. Also, nobody told us where the bus station was. We just
knew what it was close to. There is no mapquest here so you have to
figure it out. We ended up getting lost in this city and wondering
around for hours. Ugandans are not very good with directions and
haven't learned how to read maps either. If you approach a Ugandan
and ask him or her for directions to a place they will give you
directions even if they have no clue how to get there (they do not
like disappointing bazungus or white people). So we would ask one
person who did not know English very well and he would tell us the bus
station is south, the next person we asked after walking south for .25
of a mile told us the station was north. Then we asked some more
people and nobody ever pointed in the right direction. It was
frustrating at the time but looking back at it, it was funny. The
staff at eMi told us that next time you are lost ask people in the
same area and then take the average direction of what they told you.
If you have money you can go to a boda driver (scooter driver) because
they know their way around but they will not tell you unless you pay
them. We call these guys "boda-quest" because they are our maps
around Kampala.
Another interesting event was that we had to hand wash our own
boxers/underwear because it is an insult if we ask the cleaning lady
to do it. So my roommate washed his and left it out to dry but when
he came back he knew that one of his boxers was missing. He looked
all around and could not find it until some blue caught his eye in a
herd of goats in our courtyard. It turns out that one of the goats
snatched his boxers from the line. My roommate did not want to fight
a goat for what was left of his boxers so he let him have it. The
goat seemed to like the strong detergent taste.
I got my first taste of Ugandan basketball last night. I played with
some missionaries from the village. We played on a court that was as
level and smooth as my Aunt and Uncles gravel road but the game turned
out alright. You had to compensate for the wind gusts and the
slightly bent rim.
We have dinner with a man today named Peter. We were warned that he
"falls in love with buzungus" so we will have to be careful. He text
messaged me at least 8 times EARLY this morning (I wish I was
exaggerating) to make sure that we will be there.
There are numerous species of plant and bird life here in Uganda. I
will try to take pictures or sketches of as many as I can but there
are close to 30 species, if not more, of birds that I have yet to
identify. The plants thus far are sugar cane, banana trees, corn, and
several wildflowers. I shall try to capture them all for your
enjoyment.

Much love.

John

P.S. - please pray that the relationships here will be authentic. we
are having trouble with selfish reasons to befriend us.

Hello everyone,
It has been a long time since everyone has received an email from me
but no worries I will keep the past two weeks concise but hopefully
entertaining.
First off. I got to attend the Uganda vs. Niger futbol game. It was
intense!!! I got some pictures but Ugandans go crazy during the
games. The Cranes (Uganda) dominated Niger but the final score was 1
to 0. The foot work and ball handling skills were extremely
impressive. I got to take a few pictures but I was warned that you
get mugged while you watch the game so I was very careful. It also
helped that I went to the game with some local friends of mine. You
could say we were quite the oreo during the match. They watched out
for me and demonstrated the Ugandan cheers (one sounds like a high
pitched ya ya ya that I definitely could not imitate). It was a great
game and I did not get mugged. I will show the pictures when I get
back in the states.
I took my first African bus ride last week. It was great. It was a
touring bus that had been handed down to Uganda over the years. Sadly
enough, people kept their goats at home and only brought themselves (I
was told I was fortunate because I could have had to share my seat
with a goat).
The bus would make random stops for us to get out and make "long or
short calls" (use the bathroom). The bus however did not communicate
when it would leave. We learned after running the bus down and
jumping on that the rev of the engine means you have 20 seconds to get
on or you will be left. No sympathy. A younger man who was a street
vender hopped on the bus to sell some of his food products. The bus
took off before he had the chance to get off and they refused to stop
and let him out. They finally stopped after 45 minutes of driving.
The poor guy had eyes of terror because he probably could not afford
to make it back to town.
Another great feature of the bus ride was the Nigerian movies. I kept
thinking of my cousins Kevin and David during these videos because
they were more than cheesy. They consisted of "who's the daddy to the
baby" to "evil spirits with knitted kittens on their scary (not
really) togas. These videos made me think of my cousins because they
are gifted imitators of cheesy films and shows. I could only imagine
their clever dubbed in voices that would send the whole bus into
laughter. I know my imagination couldn't have done justice the the
actual duo but regardless, these videos were less than B rated. It
seemed like they recorded each one in the shower (loud echoes) and
used a standard hand held camera.
Before I make this email too long I wanted to tell of my experiences
in Kigali, Rwanda. Rwanda is a country still in repair from the 94
genocide between the Hutu and Tutsi people. This is horrifying ordeal
that all the people of Rwanda experienced. We went to the genocide
memorial to be educated on the causes and aftermath of the genocide.
In just 3 months over a million people were killed. There are many
children who have lost all their parents and relatives and women who
have lost their children and husbands. It is sad to know that all
this occurred with no outside help from any countries. Anyway, to not
leave this email in complete despair - it is very encouraging to see
the response of the Rwandan people and the well used aid money to help
rebuild and establish a clean unified country.
It is so good to be back in Uganda. I missed this place very much and
I am so excited to continue relationships with some of the people.

Prayer Requests:
- I miss Andrea a lot and I find myself battling wanting to stay here
and wanting to be home with her. So please pray that I will be
patient and content with where we are in life right now.
- I would work hard and finish correctly my engineering work for the
Theological school
- I would be intentional to continue relationships and really empty
myself in serving the people of Uganda.

Much love from Africa friends and family.

John

Hello everyone.
Sorry it has been so long since my last email. A lot has been going
on since last we talked (especially long power outages). It is so
funny thinking about how my viewpoint on electricity is that it is a
necessity as well as a regularity. However, being here has helped me
realize that electricity is a privilege and we need to be very
grateful we have it and have running consistently. Most of the power
supplied to this area is from the Nile. Must like in the states, they
will dam up big rivers and put turbines in the dam. When the water
runs through the dam and spins the turbine you get energy and a lot of
it (just in case there some of you get excited about that kind of
stuff). Anyway, to save power here in Uganda, the government decides
to have controlled outages resulting in no power for 24 hours or, in
our case last week, longer.
I have forgotten whether or not I told everyone about Rwanda. I am
going to assume I did. If I was mistaken let me know and I will give
you some highlights.
After the hard work from Rwanda (well over 40 hours in a week), the
interns were allowed a short but worthwhile break. We decided to go
just outside of Mbale to Sipi Falls. If there are any James Bond fans
out there, Mbale was in one of the opening scenes in Casino Royale.
Sadly to say, Mbale is nothing like that; however, we did see some
independent fighters.
Sipi Falls was incredible. There were three waterfalls within a mile
of each other and each waterfall was approximately 60 meters or more
(60 meters = approx. 198 feet). I have pictures to show that
describes the trip in more detail but for short we experienced tons of
bats (in caves and in the trees), monkeys, birds, jungle, hills, and
much more. I am sure any outdoor enthusiasts (Aunt Jeannine and Uncle
Mitch) would love the area. We also got to swim in one of the pools
from the waterfall. We got in on video. SWEET!!!
The bus rides to and from Mbale were a tale on their own. Sadly
enough there was no cheap and cheesy African movie - these buses were
like the ones you have heard about. A buddy of mine had to sit above
a duck. Every time he moved his feet he got his heels nibbled on.
About one in ten people would bring aboard some chickens. These
chickens had their feet tied but that did not mean they would be tame.
We witnessed people getting smacked in the face and clawed. If a bus
holds 40 people, you better believe Africans will make it 60. On the
way home I spent the whole time with my knee in a fat man's belly. He
kept asking me "Who do you cheer outside of Uganda?" For those of you
that are confused by this, so was I. I finally realized he was asking
me about my favorite futbol team. Anyway, bus rides are always a
thrill.
Coming back to the office we wasted no time. Back to work full swing
to get things finalized for our theological college design. So from
here on out it will be long hours working but it is so worth it.
Working in this environment is great and everyone is so encouraging.
It makes working late not seem so bad.
I am still loving Uganda. I am not excited knowing I will be leaving
in under a month but I am excited about getting back to family and
friends.

Okay everyone. I am off to eat and then bed. Sleep well

John

ps - sorry for the length of the email, I hope you made it all the way through

Prayer requests
- work deadlines are Monday and Friday, pray that I will be able to meet these.
- Relationships with the locals and the church, pray that with my short time here I will make the most of it and encourage and share the Gospel with many adults here
- health - I have been around a lot of sick people and some of the food does not always agree with me the second go round so please pray for health


So today was a great day but it has been a while since we have had
internet access (we just got it back). Anyway, so I was getting back
to work on some designs for a rainwater cistern when I got a package
from Mae Johnson Way and was SO STOKED!!!!!
I spent the time after lunch reading the letters. I cannot tell all
of you how encouraged I am. It has been so funny because I talk about
my experiences at Snowbird so much to all the other staff here. The
letters and shirt was concrete proof that there is no family that can
compare to the SWO family.
So here is an update that you can give to the staffers, if you want,
so they can get updated on what I am doing:
Thanks SWO for the letters. I cannot put into words how encouraging
each and every one was to me. For those of you that aren't quite
familiar with what I am doing here it is: I am working with
Engineering Ministries International (eMi). This non-profit org.
works at helping meet the needs of evangelical Christians across the
world. My specific project is designing and engineering a theological
school in Rwanda. Only 5% of the pastors have a high school
education; therefore, it is crucial that these pastors that are
shepherding Rwandan believers have a proper and adequate knowledge of
the Living God. Our main office is in Uganda (where I spend most of
my time). Here is what Uganda is like from my perspective:
I have got to say that SWO has prepared me so much for the missions
field. First off, sleeping above the bike shed and rarely showering
or even having hot showers is much like it is here. I have to sleep
in a net which is weird. I feel like I am in a cocoon sometimes and
the showers here are either bucket showers or if you are very blessed,
a shower head however the baths are never hot only cold. The roads
where I live (outside of Kampala) are not paved and poorly maintained.
In the wet season the roads are very muddy and you slip and slide
everywhere. The rain causes big ruts so Andrew Grey's gator would eat
up the 4-wheelin. For the dry season, now, the roads have huge wholes
from the rainy season but everything is dry so dust is everywhere.
After a while your eyes strengthen so getting dust in them doesn't
affect you. Breathing in the dust that cars and trucks kick-up as
well as breathing in the smog that they spew out is never easy (no
emission controls so no catalytic converters to filter the exhaust).
I have met a Kenyan here and we have made very good friends. We will
go running and eventually I will teach him to swim. When we run, we go
up hills like the hills at SWO that is used for prayer and mountain
surfing (if yall still do that). So you can imagine running up huge
hills and breathing in exhaust and dust is not fun but it is great
being able to bond with a brotha from another motha. Africans are
like gazalles running. They can stinkin fly. In any sport or
activity I will give it my all and they will still smoke me. They
will say phrases like "My body thanks you so much for working it so
hard"...while I am saying to myself "My body wants to fall over and
die, when will you get tired."
I love the people here. They are so friendly and love to talk to
Muzungus (white people). Especially when a white person can speak
their language. Anytime I talk to a Ugandan in his native language
they smile really big and say "Who is it that a Muzungu knows
Lugandan?" When you speak to a kid in their language, most are
stunned or laugh uncontrollably. Muzungu refers to the way white
people walk. We walk very fast compared to our African brothers. The
Africans like to say "Muzungus have watches but Africans have time."
It is in reference to how we are always in a hurry. It is funny
watching an African making fun of me. They like to walk really fast,
bent-over like a monkey. Africans have great posture, they think
Americans postures are poor. They carry everything on their head (I
am serious, I have seen some crazy things on peoples heads).
I cannot wait to get back to NC only so I can show those interested in
pictures, stories, and stereotypes that are that are not true of most
Africans. I love it here and do not want to go home except to
encourage others, fellowship with my long-missed men, and see my
fiance Andrea.
Staffers, campers, and whoever reads this letter, be ever so thankful
for the ministry of Snowbird. That environment of a love for Christ
and dedication to one another in love is not found anywhere else, not
even in the US. Many of the staffers and locals tell me of how
blessed I am to have such community back home. Thanks for being a
family.

Your humbled brother and fellow warrior in Christ,

John McNeill

ps - does anyone still sleep above the bike shed? I seriously miss
that place and the men who stunk it up in there with me. Is Miss
Tully and Miss Roberts finished with the AT? Finally, great call on
opening up archery and skeet shootin - best recs ever!!! But who put
Patrick Neal on a shotgun? Emo's don't shoot guns do they? Just
kiddin I love you bro and miss you greatly. Blue holdin down a new
position known as SOFA - hilarious. Has anyone seen or heard from
Mowgli, Smalls, Wolfeman, or Big Daddy Hicks? Lastly, how is the
revelation skit - Hardcore as ever?

Friends and Family,
So much has happened since you last heard from me. First off, last Friday we went to town called Ndere where the Ugandan people perform the local tribal dances from every region in Uganda. It was very facinating and I cannot fully describe it so I will just have to show those interested pictures and film when I return. I will say this, never have I seen hips move so fast or huge drums balance on someone's head while they beat on it. When the performances where almost over the speaker asked if people from different countries were here. There were probably 15-20 different countries represented that night. We all went down to the stage of the amphitheater and we danced with peoples from all across the world. The speaker said if we could get every government official together to dance, then their would be peace. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
One of the local staff friends of mine named Richard Otim invited me over to eat at his house with his best friend called Samuel (they pronounce it Sam-well). Richard is the best friend I have hear in Uganda. He is a great guy who works hard but enjoys life. We could not have asked for a better night. A friend of mine from the states gave me some cards the previous day so I took them to the dinner. We spend a good bit of the evening playing American and Ugandan card games. There were several children around and they were really cute. One kid was named Ivan and he was probably 5 yrs. old and wore these pants that didn't quite fit him so when he ran, half of his backside would be showing - it was hilarious. Ivan's friend Aaron was really shy at first but then opened up. I would take each boy and toss him in the air and them catch him as he came down -- a trick my Dad did to Laura and I that we always really liked to do. A big form of entertainment for the Ugandans is the radio. They love to listen to sporting events and music. When Richard brought out the music Aaron and Ivan danced. It was so funny to witness these little guys try and imitate pop culture dancing. We took what pictures we could but they did not do the little one's moves justice. There was one child there who was very young. He was so cute but he was so scared of white people. Richard said it is common in Uganda because the children think we look like ghosts. When the child would get close to us we would fix his eyes on our face and just stare. When we would go for him to hold him, he would bury his head in the shoulder of his sister. Dinner was amazing, the food was absolutely delicious and was relatively healthy. We ate in a house smaller than the average living room in America. Richard has a family of one boy, one girl and another on the way (he is really excited). We all had a tight squeeze but I will never forget this night of fellowship and laughs.
A completely different couple of friends live near Entebe and wanted me to come over and visit their place (their names were also Richard and Samuel - no joke). To keep things less confusing I will name these two Rich 2 and Sam 2. These guys are my age and are trying to make it on their own. They have both lost their parents so they have no one paying their school fees anymore. They are currently working but are hoping that an opportunity will allow them to finish school. There house was the size of a small bedroom and they had only a bed and a dresser in the room. We enjoyed tea and casava (grilled root that tastes like a big french fry).
These are all very brief descriptions of my past week. I hope that it was not too long for each of you to read. I have some funny stories that the speaker for the tribal dancing said comparing Africans to other nations. I will save these for in-person.

Much love.

John

Hello family and friends,

So as of right now it is approximately 5 days until I leave Uganda and
go back to the States. It is crazy to think that I have been gone for
59 days!!! I am excited to get back to you, my friends and family;
however, it is and will be hard knowing that I will be leaving the
people here. I have made great relationships with several people here
in Uganda and I will miss the local church too. They have been my
family. So I have many mixed feelings but God has governed this time
and I know He has something BIG for me when I get back home -- like
MARRIAGE!!!
Anyway, it has been a while since I updated you on what has been going
on here. First of all I wanted to tell you that Africans think that
Westerners (white people) have so much money that they don't have to
work and even don't know how to work. When I say "work" I mean manual
labor. Well the other week I had an opportunity to serve the church.
They wanted me to play the guitar for them because someone told them I
played (for those that know me well, you should know this is wrong! I
cannot play a lick). So when I got to the church I saw a man out
front shoveling gravel for the church's walk way. Well thanks to my
up-bringing, despite what Africans think, I can wield a shovel well.
I immediately dove in, took the shovel from the exhausted man and
started movin rock. Not only was he stunned but everyone at church
and the people walking by. Well the other church members would rather
me play guitar for them than shovel gravel so they basically ordered
me inside (in a polite way). So they gathered around me and told me
to play for them. Well I told them I really cannot but I will do my
best. They expected me to play notes that matched the notes of there
singing. I could not do this to save my life. After a short time, a
friend from EMI came by who is musically talented and took over. I
was so relieved and ran outside, before they could tried to get me to
do something else musical, and helped the man shovel gravel. It was
so funny to see Africans walk by and stop to watch me work. They were
so stunned I knew how to shovel and use a wheel-barrel. Anyway I had
a great workout, shed a lot of water because it was so hot and in the
middle of the day...incredible time.
After I served the church in this way, I could tell I gained a lot of
respect from the locals. They did not think muzungus (white people)
could work hard. I was thankful for this opportunity God gave me to
show the Ugandans that Americans are not all lazy.
I also tried a flying ant for the first time the other day. We went
to the directors house to play some games with the other staff when we
noticed hundreds of little insects moving in his garden. We
approached the garden corner to see tons upon tons of flying ants
(pretty big compared to our ants). Someone had told us that African
children LOVE catching and eating these ants so I figured "now or
never" --- so I tried one. You have to take off their wings (that is
what the locals do) before you eat them. The ants do not taste like
much and I was hungry at the time so followed my first ant with a few
more of his friends. No other muzungu ate them but I thought it would
be okay.
Well that is really all for now. We are working hard and long to make
sure and meet our deadlines. I am excited to show everyone the report
from our work. It looks great!!
I will share more stories for those who want to hear them when I get
home. God is doing great things here. Please be praying that He will
use me to impact lives even though I only have a few more days here.
God bless friends.
John

Friends and family,
To be honest I could not forget to mention the last few days here in
Uganda. I must say it is unbelievable knowing that I will be leaving so
soon. I do not think it will set in that I am out of Africa until I set
foot in the Dallas airport.
I look forward to seeing each of you when I get back to the States. As much
as I include in these emails, I leave out many other stories. However I do
want to tell you about the most recent incident at Bible study. To give you
some background, I have held a Bible study for the local church at my
house. As of right now the membership consists of me and about three
others. As African custom insists, the person who hosts the meeting
also needs to lead it. I still have not understood why I need to lead
every week but I went with it. This last week I was extremely busy at
work so I was unable to prepare like I wanted to Bible study. So
instead of having an in-depth look at scripture, we decided to talk
about essential ways a Christian should live. It was a very practical
discussion. The discussion was about Biblical accountability. The
members of the church were familiar with accountability but were
unsure why they needed it and how it was to be incorporated in their
everyday lives. We discussed the nature of man as being sinful and
that only through faith in Christ can we have victory in this life and
be seen as fully pleasing to God. Therefore, we must have our
brothers for the men and the sisters for the women being active in our
lives so we can help each other live a life worthy to God. We spoke
about the importance of same sex accountability and in marriage your
wife or husband becomes your main accountability partner. The
discussion went very well and I look forward to seeing how they
implement this new but old thought into their church. One of the
attenders of the study is the college/young adults leader. He plans
on teaching this to the group.
So the background was a little long...sorry, but many times something
funny happens every study. Well the other day, one of the members
(Dan) picked an electronic appliance and asked "John what is this
for?" Now you must understand that Ugandans are very resourceful and
can do or make anything dealing with their hands but they are not used
to seeing electronic appliances that are specialized for only one or
two purposes...so with that in mind I enlightened Dan that what he was
holding is for roasting bread and is called a toaster. He looked at
it funny and put it aside. The locals here think that toasting bread
is a silly think to do. They wonder why someone would want to take
soft bread and burn it to make it hard.
I had a good laugh about it on the inside and realized just how many
luxuries we have that we see as necessities but are BY FAR luxuries.
We had our last service at church today and the members of the church
surprised some of us with going away gifts. They say that good byes
are not necessary because we will see each other in Heaven, so they
gave us a gift and said "if you come back to Uganda, come see us...if
not we will worship beside you in Heaven."
This email is longer than I planned so I will cease my stories.
Please pray for me these next couple of days. A lot is going on and I
am very anxious to see my family and friends. It is going to be
really hard to say my farewells to my friends here.

God satisfies more than anything else.

John