I Took Shoe Shopping to A New Level

One of our sons in David family needs a new pair of school shoes. We've been looking for some every time we've been in town since Christmas time. We "shop" on the roadside where some guys set up business out of huge garbage bags---not your definitive mall experience to say the least! He described to me what kind he wanted and I finally found some!!! Genuine Reebok black leather for only $15. A few hours after the purchase I remembered he didn't want lace up, but Velcro.I went back and bought the right kind from another guy and then tried to get the refund for the lace ups from the first guy. Keep in mind that these guys work together and they do a whopping good business. "I'm sorry Madame, but you'll have to come back tomorrow, I have NO money now." I, like most missionaries, am able to adjust well to the demands of my surroundings--and being surrounded by a lying, cheating shoe salesman demanded an inner strength that flowed out nicely I must say. In my best Luganda--stay with me here-- with a smile on my face, "ssebo, olimba. Njagala cente/35,000/-KATI!" we basically had the same conversation about, ummmm, 15 times until he couldn't handle the criticism he was getting even from his colleagues. After about 20 minutes when he realized I wasn't leaving without my money, he gave in and slunk away announcing he'd be back in 5 min with my money. I smiled and said, "see you in five minutes or I leave with these shoes AND another pair of my choice." he was back in four minutes with correct change. VICTORY! (well, somehow a victory. . . Should it really take that much effort to be treated fairly?????) I took a boda boda (motorbike) back to my hotel and THE BODA DRIVER tried to cheat me! I handed him what I knew to be the correct fare and walked away without giving him a chance to say anything. Anybody wanna go shoe shopping with me next time you need a pair?????

A bit uptight are we?

Where to begin. . . Here I (Mary) am alone in a fantastic boutique hotel, enjoying the quiet, comfy surroundings. . . Reading lots of books and studying Isaiah(my current Bible study with the girls)and watching ALMOST an entire movie that I've been wanting to see for a long time and the movie stops with just 15 minutes remaining!!!!!!!!! "But wait" you wonder, why are you in a boutique hotel, alone,without the fam? Long story, so I'll shorten it just for you. I have a nerve pinched between C-5 and C-6 and am requiring 5 days of traction. When the doc first suggested these 5 days of traction, I laughed, "I can't do that! I live too far away and teach my kids and etc, etc, blah,blah,blah" the dr said we could try muscle relaxers and exercises for a week and if they didn't work, then the traction needed to happen. Well, they didn't help and I am now on day 3 of traction. It's only 20 min a day (unless the nurse forgets about me like today!), but it requires me to stay in town. Life doesn't stop for Geoff and the kids, though, so here I am with two days to go!!! I read a lot today and my brain was getting muddled, so I switched to watching a movie--fantastic activity with very little brain required. So, it got to the best part and STOPPED! Argh, Best thing I can figure is that the download was interrupted because of the glorious quality of the Internet. Oh well, guess I'll resume reading.
Thank you to everyone who has and is praying for me. I am grateful for your faith and love!!

Oh wait!!!!! I forgot the most important part of this whole adventure. A VERY dear person in our lives provided the funds for me to stay in town and to cover the medical bills!!! Here is the most amazing part. . .she wrote a check for an amount and believed God was asking her to give more, so she tore up the first check and wrote a new one with the new amount. The fees were more than we originally anticipated and the new amount took care of the surprise expenses!!!! God is awesome and active!!!!!

UNDER GROUND Potato Roast

Medie, our compound worker, helped the kids dig the hole and get the fire started. This was a new venture for him as a potato roast such as this is the practice of the Ateso tribe, not the Buganda.

In early January we learned the fine art of roasting sweet potatoes underground. We spent an afternoon and evening with the vocational school staff as part of our annual envisioning week and we all prepared a traditional meal together--everyone with their own task.  Toby was shown how to roast sweet potatoes by digging a hole, placing the poatoes in, and covering them with hard packed dirt.  He had so much fun that he decided to roast some of our own sweet potatoes we had grown on our land.  

Kevin fans the fire to get it nice and hot.

poking in a stick to see how the fire is progressing

Toby needs to double check just to make sure it is just right.

Geoff stopped by on his way to a meeting and checks on the progress as well.
At the end of it all, we didn't succeed with our first batch--we didn't leave them in long enough.  A fellow staff member from the Ateso tribe stopped by to give us some pointers.  A bonus of his stopping by was another treat from his tribe.  Smashed roasted sweet potatoes mixed with roasted ground nuts.  Yum Yum. We made a second batch applying the pointers given and it turned out so well that we enjoyed them for three days!!!!

Bi-annual Maize Harvest!!!!

About two weeks ago we worked together as staff and children to harvest the maize on our Enterprise Farm.  We started at 8 a.m. and worked until a little after 12 in the HOT (emphasize BLAZING HOT) sun.  It was an enjoyable time despite the dust, heat, hard work of lugging heavy bags and the blackjacks that stick all over your clothing!!!  At about noon the porridge was ready and we stopped to enjoy a nice snack of soy beans and maize porridge.  

The tractor carried  maize after being hand-picked. It also carried children who thought riding in the back wagon was the best part of the whole day!

Acacia, Toby, Micah and Johnny help hand-harvest alongside a farmworker.

Some of our girls from David Family enjoy a break and some nice HOT porridge on a very HOT day!

Jill, Alair, Nancy and I were full of blackjacks--little sticky seeds from a weed that grows among the maize. It takes what seems like forever to pick them all off!

Aunt Grace and I worked side-by-side in the early part of the morning.  It was relaxing to be in the field with such a good friend!

Being out in the fields together, working, talking, laughing and sharing stories is one of the best things about harvesting together!!! It is a chance to interact with some people that we rarely get a chance to spend time with due to our varying schedules here at New Hope.

After about 2 hours of work I never saw the boys working on the actual harvesting of the maize.  They were thereafter found "Helping" with the tractor!

Uncle Jimmy Bosco and Geoff work side-by-side in the early part of the day.

Children and staff interact on an entirely different level out in the field.  It is a great opportunity for deepening relationships outside the norm.

I didn't get many pictures of Kevin that day, so here is one with him in the center working alongside Johnny.

Mmmmmmm, boiling hot maize porridge fresh from the open fire.

By growing our own maize we significantly offset the operational costs of feeding our children!!! I don't know the exact numbers, but not only do we grow maize and other crops on the Enterprise Farm, but each individual family group (we have seven at present, with an average of 23 children in each) maintains their own gardens which serve to assist in providing food. The schools also keep gardens and use the yield to offset the cost of feeding the children break (maize porridge) and lunch (posho-from maize flour and beans) each day.

The Ultra-Spiritual Missionary and her dog

You know, if I wanted to impress you that I'm a really great missionary I'd do a "Day In The Life" blog entry. I'd choose to highlight a Sunday because, in this missionary's life that's a day laden with spiritually meaningful activity.

But instead, taste with me some of our more mundane life stressors. Before anyone is tempted to think crazy thoughts such as life as a missionary in East AFrica MUST certainly be continually exciting and perhaps even "glamourous," permit me to infuse a bit o' ridiculous reality.

We own a spayed dog (we are responsible missionaries at the very least.) In the last two years she has developed a very common side effect of spaying--incontinence (extreme glamour). Our good friend Dale, a vet in TX, bless him, provided us with more than a years worth of medicine to control the problem. Back in November I noted the medicine would run out mid-January and knowing there is "no hurry in Africa" I immediately contacted the vet here in Kampala. She said it was on order and to call back in December, which I did. "None yet, call back in January." I called two days ago and her assistant delivered GREAT NEWS -- they had it in stock! But, yesterday the vet herself called me to say that her assistant was mistaken and the order was still missing. I had just given Bubbly (the dog) her last tablet. StReSs level INCREASE! Yes, we have cement floors and no carpet, but that is not enough to chill me out at the thought of cleaning up "accidents" for an indefinite amount of time!!!!

I shot a panic email to the Z's, fellow New Hope missionaries scheduled to fly this Friday. Then I called Dale in TX to make the request for the medicine. No one answered the phone, but I left a message and sent a follow-up email. He never heard the phone message, but saw the email within the hour. Within four hours he had sent the med FedEx to the Z's and I'm looking at NOT having to clean up any accidents (of THAT type at least) for the next year!!!! Hallelujah for God's miracles especially amongst the little things in life!!!!

That was about 5 hours of stress I endured not because I was praying for a child, or mentoring someone, or tending to the sick, or teaching or preparing a Bible study lesson, but because I was out of the medicine needed by our canine with a pea-sized brain. Yup, being a missionary means just one exciting thing after another!!!

A Day in Kampala

The City skyline

A trip into Kampala every four weeks is a must for us. Not because we so totally enjoy the city, but because there are some items in the "BIG" city we cannot buy out here in the village. The trip in and out is colorful, stressful, DUSTY in the dry season and full of traffic jams. Enjoy a quick vicarious trip with us into Uganda's capital city.

Everyone tries to edge their way in . . .

                                          

Shoprite--one of the staple shops for western foods.

No day in Kampala is complete without being stopped by the police!

                                                      

buying shoes out of garbage bags on the side of the road!!

cows, a roadside hazard

hauling water

We buy most of our fruits and vegetables at roadside stands on the way home from Kampala at the end of the day

A motorcycle is a very common mode of transport. The woman in the picture is tying up her traditional dress-gomesi-in preparing to ride.

DUST!!!!!! You can't avoid it! Our last 18km is a dirt road and is VERY DUSTY in the dry season (December-Feb)

Hope you enjoyed this short trip with us!

Abundance for 2012

This morning as I was walking in my garden praying, enjoying the cooler morning air I was drawn to a certain banana plant that is growing there. To give you a bit of explanation, bananas grow on a plant that is continually starting new plants around the base of the large one. Typically you find one mature plant with other young ones of different ages around it. The interesting thing about this plant is that there seemed to be three mature plants in one. These three plants all are bearing fruit of a large size--highly unusual. As I looked at the plant I felt I could hear God speaking to me about our lives. What I felt was that this plant was symbolic of the coming year, 2012 for the Britton family. God is going to bring abundance...

Often when someone talks about abundance or prosperity, our minds are drawn to physical wealth. We think of big cars, full bank accounts and large screen televisions. But when living day in and day out with the poorest of the poor, expectations come in a different form. Animist cultures (such as Uganda) typically live life in a state of fear concerning the spirit world, often living a life of appeasement to the spirits before them. The impressions of “God” are of a police officer keeping them in line, where if they get out of line punishment comes. But the Bible paints such a different picture of our God. The Bible tells us that God leads the bound into prosperity and that when we delight ourselves in the Lord He will give us the desire of our hearts (Psalms 68 & 37). For the poorest of the poor they are only hoping to not annoy the spirits, and often can’t imagine God giving them good things. Much of the prosperity message has not left room for other biblical topics like suffering or hardships. The poor of the world have struggled to find themselves within the message and actually believe they are poor because they are cursed or have done something wrong. The problem is not the message of prosperity, but the way we view prosperity, and, for many, the way we view God. God is inherently good and despite our opinion of what it means to prosper, He desires good things for our lives. If we don’t truly believe God is good and has a good plan, when suffering or hardship comes we quickly lose sight of God’s goodness. We question, “what have I done?” and we struggle to trust and believe for a good outcome rather than draw close to Him and feed on His faithfulness (Ps 37) How do you see God? Do you see a good Father who enjoys giving good things to His children (Matthew 7) or are you just hoping to survive?

As God has spoken the word of abundance into my life, I am not so much expecting financial riches (though I won’t refuse). I am expecting an abundance of fruit, a deepening relationship with the God who loves me and along the way having more than enough for my physical needs, enabling me to share with those around me.

Today God used me to deliver a message to our church here in Uganda that I am praying will truly kick start our year. Encouraging our church, which is dominated by the poor and orphans, that God is good and we need to approach Him with that understanding. The understanding of God being a good father (Matt 7) who gives good gifts to His children. Feeling free in his presence to ask for and believe that He will provide good. And to understand that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11), are you willing to seek Him? May 2012 be a year of seeking and finding. A year of God’s provision in all areas of life spiritual, emotional and physical.