Odds & Ends

I couldn’t find a theme for this week’s blog entry so I hope the title ties things together. I have included some topics that you, the readers, have been asking about and some things that are new.


Time. Some of you have asked me what I am spending my time doing. Recently, I have been spending a lot of time looking at the desk above. I seem to be teaching almost every day of the week here and on topics that I have to make up the material for. I don’t mind it, though, as I am learning a great deal while preparing. What am I teaching? Well, I meet with three (soon to be four) pastors 1-2 times a week. All of their studies seem to have a different focus and I am even helping one of them with schooling. On top if this, I am teaching at the church in town on Thursday nights, meeting at house groups on Mondays and Tuesdays, and, beginning next week, addressing a group of students at the local college. Did I mention that they are asking me to speak on struggles youth are having, mainly on success as well as, I quote, “fornication”. I am also preparing for a leaders session next weekend that I am a both excited and a bit anxious about.

Doom. When the team came, having read about the ant “issue” I was having, they stocked up on this stuff. Just dump some of the powder when the ants come in and they won’t go near it. There hasn’t been an ant in sight of the kitchen in the past two weeks. However, the little terrors are getting a bit more ingenious as I noticed them beginning to come in through the laundry line and down the shower in the bathroom.

It began with a visit to the boys home to say goodnight. They were sitting around, bored, and simply were excited when I read out English words from their textbooks. So, after a couple nights that, out of recesses of my mind I remembered some games I played when I was their age (I seem to be digging up all of my old tricks as of late). Tick-Tack-Toe, Checkers, some random Dot-Box Game, they all began to come back to me. Anyways, this has turned into a nightly ritual and the boys ask me constantly what game I am going to show them “tonight”. The problem is that I’m running out of games. Help? Please, if you remember things like paper football from grade school please leave some ideas in the comments!



Everyone on the team was pushing me buy a drum to have while I am here. My response was, “What am I supposed to do with an African drum?” Well, for fun, I decided to ask one of the locals to teach me and, lo and behold, I am beginning lessons. The best part about it is that I am using an old drum from the Church until I get good enough to ruin my own.

Jeff, Shannon, & their kids, as I have mentioned, have been such a help to me here. However, in my discussion of them I failed to mention something exciting in their lives. They just adopted a few month old baby from an orphanage in Kampala. This child had been left on the side of the road and taken to the orphanage. The story of how she ended up with them is amazing and the Dycks should tell it…actually, its here(scroll down). Her name is Mazi and although she was fearful of me at the beginning she has warmed up to this “Mzungu”.

Well, that’s enough random topics for now. Thanks for all the emails. They have been so encouraging. Also, keep sending questions as I realize I have tended to forget some things. Oh, and I cut my hair off (with the support of the vote, of course).



more to come...