Home Sweet Kaabong

Breathtaking - that's how I describe the landscape here. It's quite green, rolling a bit & with random outcroppings of rocky hills & huge boulders. Of course, I haven't experienced the dry season yet & when the green-ness fades here, will I still feel the same? And of course, the African sky - never in the world have I found a sky that captures so much glory in every direction...it never ceases to amaze me!

Here are just a few glimpses of our view & the base:

looking to the east from inside our base

our house/office

my tukul - right in the middle! Isn't it cozy? That's where I sleep, it's quite nice actually!


And I was very pleased to make friends with our resident PCM (Pest Control Manager) - his name is Jack!

Nat, doesn't this look familiar? Yep, feeling right at home here.

Kampala & driving in Africa

I flew into Entebbe, Uganda at around 7am on Monday morning. That’s about 10pm Sunday night for you Denver folk & midnight on eastern US time. After successfully maneuvering through the tiny airport - where the customs, immigration and baggage claim are all one room only separated by some rope – and being met by all 3 of my checked bags (yay!) I was met outside of the secure area (which is a very long walk out in the elements) by Jimmy & Phyllis from Medair. I was so very happy to see their smiling faces!

Similar to last year when we arrived in Uganda, I was met by a beautifully soft sunrise and Lake Victoria as we drove into the city of Kampala. I was determined to give this city another chance – it didn’t leave the greatest impression on me last year – and I’m glad I did. We arrived at the Medair base, which is in a nice area of the city. But what I was so shocked to notice from the view at the base & subsequent walks around the area is that Kampala is actually a city built on several rolling hills – it is beautiful! That is a look from afar, however. It is still a developing city: traffic is unlike anything we know in the US, the roads are atrocious with potholes the size of small cars and are barely paved, “very nice areas” of town would be considered the ghetto in America – very different standards of living. Ok, so I don’t LOVE Kampala, but I can handle it.

I’m supposed to take a driving test tomorrow & though I’ve explained I don’t drive manual and therefore shouldn’t be allowed on the road (desperately hoping they’ll forbid me from driving) I still must go & drive an automatic. With the skills I learned from my one manual lesson before I left (thanks Wayne!), I’ll learn to drive manual while in Kaabong, a very less hectic area of the country, perhaps even on the airstrip!

Surprises since I’ve been here…eating homemade sushi which was quite delicious, thanks to Jo here at the Kampala Medair base, eating gelato with Fanny at an Italian market down the street, having my own private room, and getting an extra 2-3kgs of space to pack stuff onto the plane with me on Friday! (Did I mention I can only take 15kgs with me on my first trip up there? That’s about 33 lbs…)

There’s my glance at the last few days. I’m glad to be here & getting to know the Kampala staff, but am very excited to head to Kaabong where my team is waiting to welcome me “home”!

Thanks for your continued prayers and encouragement! I miss you all & send much love.

***Update since I took my driving test: all went well, driving on the British side of the car/road is quite interesting, but easy to get the hang of since you're clearly trying to stay away from the cars coming at you from the other direction! I successfully navigated downtown Kampala & still have the wits about me to tell you - wow. I never would have thought to attempt driving here...I'll let you know how it goes if I ever venture out on my own (probably won't!).

Feeling Life

but i dont want medication
just give me liberation
even if it cuts my legs right out from underneath
dont give me medication
i want the real sensation
even when living feels just like death to me
- Derek Webb

Today was an emotional day for me. I think it finally hit me in full force the reality of leaving all that I know & hold dear. That my community, my family, that I've invested in & found a safe place in, will be half way around the world. I won't know the day in & out joys & troubles of my closest friends, it just isn't possible. What am I thinking? Why am I doing this?

And so the tears came, multiple times, and at first I felt like I was in such a pit. I hate this, why would I put myself through this? But in the midst of the streaming tears I heard the Truth - this is what my life is about & these emotions are good & real & raw. They prove the depth of relationship I've been blessed with the past few years. I believe that to truly love deeply, you have to be willing to grieve just as deep - that's the cost. But its worth it. I wouldn't trade it for anything & I want to feel this depth even if I cry all the tears right out of me!

I hope to be this brokenhearted when I end my time in Africa - I hope to have friendships and memories so rooted in who I am that it tears me up to leave. That's the life I want to live - not dull, subdued, isolated - but full, exciting, with community! I refuse anything less! I really think I needed to enter into this truth before getting on that plane. It's going to be a challenge to balance relationships from here with life & relationships there. But I'll just have to figure it out as I go, may the bumps & bruises along the way prove to be avenues to Life!

Going Away

My good friends, Tiffani & Constance, along with my gracious roomies, Kelley & Brian, gave me a fabulous going away bash last Friday night. I realized about half-way through the evening how blessed I was both to have such fantastic friends & to have them all surrounding me in one place! They took the time to hear what I'm headed towards with Medair in Uganda & also encouraged & prayed for me. I couldn't have asked for a better way to begin the week of "see-ya-laters".

I keep saying it feels so surreal - something I've looked forward to for so long is finally at my feet! Makes me realize how much I love my friends here - I'm going to miss you all dearly!

Brandi & I

Paul, Gary, Kimiko & Melanie

Brandi, me, Anne, Tiffani, & Laini

Jen, me, & Constance

Tif & I

I'm not the gift

Someone recently challenged me: often Christians get caught up in trying to be Jesus to the people around us but that may not be a complete picture of what Jesus asks of us. I think trying to love like Jesus did holds a lot of truth as we try to live out the model he provided for us when he walked this earth. However, that can sometimes create an us vs. them or even a sense of authority or superiority over others. I think we have to also consider this statement he made:

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to me...truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

Well, hopefully we all hear him say this to us & not the opposite, but the point here is he is why we serve. He is the people we need to love & care for. My friend Michelle expressed this as well in her recent blog post. Here's a quote she added from Henri Nowen's book, Gracias that I found to profoundly state what I've been tossing around in my head and heart:

What then is it that we do receive in ministry? Is it the hidden insights and skills of those to whom we want to bear witness. Maybe so…but that can never be the true source of our own growth. Seeing how a person slowly becomes aware of his or her own capacities might make us happy for awhile but that is not enough for a grateful life. A grateful life is a life in which we come to see that the Lord himself is the gift. The mystery of ministry is that the Lord is to be found where we minister. That is what Jesus tells us when he says: ’Insofar as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” (Matt. 25) Our care for people thus becomes the way to meet the Lord. The more we give, help, support, guide counsel, and visit, the more we receive, not just similar gifts, but the Lord himself. To go to the poor is to go to the Lord. Living this truth in our daily life makes it possible to care for people without conditions, without hesitation, without suspicion, or without the need for immediate rewards. With this sacred knowledge, we can avoid becoming burned out.p. 20.

I hope to take these thoughts to heart as I live & love. I'm not the gift, Jesus is - both to me & to others.

Family Time

I returned this week from about 10 days with my family back in the midwest. We spent a week at Round Lake in Michigan where we relaxed & enjoyed our time together. I hadn't seen my niece & nephew since last October, so time with them was much needed before I head out. Ryan turned 10 that week, which we celebrated with a Harry Potter birthday cake & plenty of fun toys spread throughout the week. Madison will be 8 in October...sigh.

I love my family. Mom & Dad are so supportive, always have been, of my crazy adventures. I can only imagine the stress I give them as I jaunt around the world. But they continue to stand behind me & pray hard! Thanks, mom & dad!

There were tears, laughs, and the "see you laters" or "talk with you on skype" were hard but encouraging.

I keep wavering & discussing with friends - how long really is a year? How much will change? I hope I'll change & that we'll all grow over a year, but will it fly by or feel like forever? Because I hear both from people as I tell them I'm leaving...I imagine it will be both at specific times. Any thoughts from those out there who've moved away from friends & family?

Good times with Good friends

About two weekends ago, I took my last camping trip of the season. It was a girl's weekend with my good friends, Tiffani, Constance, and Jen. We had such a great time just laughing and eating really yummy food. Constance challenged Tif & I on some mountain biking trails that were actually quite fun for us beginners. We found a fantastic campsite at the summit of the pass and enjoyed a breath-taking view of the mountain vista & Fraser valley below.

Sigh...I'm going to miss my friends...trying to eek out as much quality time together as possible before my departure to Africa. More to come on that...














A Moose! He crossed the highway as we headed into Winter Park, my first sighting of one of these beauties.















Jen, Constance, Tif & I




















Our campsite