More pictures of our pets

This post is not ministry related, but it is for our family and anyone else who wants to see our pets.  The first and second videos are really funny.  There are pictures after the videos.

Caleb defending his food from the chickens:

Caleb not doing well at playing fetch.

But look at his impressive skills in the videos below.

This is the new hedgehog we recently got from our neighbor, very small and cute.  We hand-plucked 6 pea sized ticks from it.  Unfortunately it became very weak a couple days later.  I think it was lost from its mother too early.  I tried to help it by spoon-feeding it milk and insects, but it was too weak to even eat, and it died.  Very sad.

 

Agricultural Trainings

Although, due to lack of rain, KIDO has not started digging gardens and planting seeds, I have recently been able to join two of the field staff - Geofrey and William - in trainings on the theoretical aspect of agriculture. 

This is William:

To get the communities ready for planting season and the demonstration gardens of green manure/cover crops that are planned, Geofrey, William, and Emmanuel are busy training farmer groups about techniques for growing vegetables, how to control insect pests, and how to improve the soil by growing green manure and cover crops - plants that grow quickly and often under poor conditions and which add organic material to the soil.  

William and I taught about the importance of growing vegetables for health, a balanced diet, and for selling.  We discussed the spacing for different plants and how to estimate ten centimeters or a meter without having a measuring tape.  We also talked about plant diseases and insect pests. 

In one of our trainings, children had just been released from school so they crowded into the church to see what was going on.  I'm not sure how much of the teaching they actually listened to because of all the time spent staring at me.

When I worked with Geofrey, we started a training about green manure and cover crops.  We were only able to get through the parts about differences between good and bad soils, what soil fertility is, and different ways that people try to improve their soil.  Next time, they will continue by talking about how green manure and cover crops are an efficient and cost-effective way of caring for and improving the soil.  

The training was very interactive; the farmers brainstormed answers to questions and had the opportunity to teach each other.  From what I could tell, they already knew many of the concepts, but maybe had never put them all together systematically. 

I do love teaching, but I am definitely looking forward to going out into the fields and getting my hands dirty.  I was spoiled by a year working outside on the farm daily at World Hunger Relief!

Solomon's Wedding

No, this post is not about King Solomon's wedding, but about our former student named Solomon.  We had the privilege of attending his wedding in Amuria this past Saturday.  It was to be a day of surprises.  The wedding invitation said it began at 9:00am, but our friend who was going to guide us there said we should not leave Soroti until 9:00 thus getting there at around 10:30.  Well, it turned out that we were not only driving our friend, but also the groom's brother and all the suits and gowns for the wedding party, and three other of our students.  We then also stopped in Amuria town to pick up our friends the Bishop and the pastor of Amuria town church.  It was a full vehicle.  We didn't get there until 11:00 and only about ten people were around and things were not yet fully set up.  Here is a photo of Solomon.  No, he doesn't have two brides!  Another surprise was that it was a double wedding.  Two couples were getting married at once, (which is a great way to share the expenses).  

When we arrived we found out that the preaching pastor had just called saying he could not make it, though the officiating pastor made it.  Although there were other pastors there with me, they asked me to give the message.  It's the first time I've ever preached without any notes (and without preparation).  I should have tried this years ago because it turned out to not really be that difficult.  The concepts I wanted to share, and the passages we read, were already in my heart and familiar so it was easy to preach.  I did get about one hour in the midst of waiting for the wedding to start to look over some passages and think about what to say.  The wedding did not start until 1:00, but it was a packed place by that time so there were many people outside the tent as well looking in.  Below you see local flowers and toilet paper for decoration.  Pretty inexpensive and still beautiful.

The music was excellent, especially this local band:

It is always really funny in Ugandan weddings to see how the best men take care of the grooms (and the bridesmaids for the brides).  They are constantly wiping sweat (though I didn't see any actual sweat) from the groom's faces.  It is so awkward and funny to watch.  Here is a video:

I preached about how God uses marriage to not only make us happy, but to make us holy.  I talked about how God can use trials in marriage, and the conflicts, to make us more like Jesus and shape our character.  And then I talked about serving one another in marriage following the example of Jesus serving us.  It was fun and an honor to preach at the wedding of our student Solomon.  Here is a photo of me and other pastors present.

And me preaching.

And the pastors praying for the couples.



Lifting the veils was another interesting part of the ceremony and quite funny.  The pastor mentioned how in the Bible there was a certain wedding in which the character (Jacob) married the wrong woman.  So the pastor said, "now open the veil and make sure this is really the woman you want to marry."

The last surprise of the day was that when we finally got home a neighbor was outside of our gate with a tiny hedgehog to give us.  He had heard that we keep them.   Unfortunately it died soon after.  It was probably too young or sick.  More pictures of it in another post, but here are some more interesting photos from the wedding.

Notice the unfortunate kid caught nose picking in an otherwise great photo below :)

These two guys (the one in the middle and the one with the green shirt) were also our students at PTC and were helping out with the wedding.  It was great to see them again too!

PTC Reunion

When we were in Uganda in 2009-2010, we got to know the students we taught at the Pentecostal Theological College (PTC) and we visited almost twenty of them at their homes and churches.  One year was not enough time to visit everyone, though.  When we got to Uganda this year, we knew that with our work schedules, we would still not be able to visit all of these friends even in two years of being here.  So we decided that it would make more sense to invite all of them to our house at once instead.

Considering that we invited all fifty-or-so students for good food and fellowship, we were a bit overwhelmed by the planning of such an event (even knowing that not all would be able to attend).  But hey, we learned how to cook for thirty people easily at World Hunger Relief, right? 

So, we borrowed chairs, large numbers of plates, and some huge pots for cooking.  And we had help from Edward's wife on planning how much food to get as well as Paul's expertise from having been a chef at PTC.  Paul directed the cooking of the various dishes - beans, potatoes, pilau, and cabbage.

Anthony chopped lots and lots of onions, tomatoes, and meat.

I cooked a massive amount of pilau and baked three cakes.

When our friends arrived, everyone enjoyed catching up with each other and with us.  Many of them had not seen each other in years because they live all over the country.  We had a great time going around and having each person share what they have been doing since we left Uganda in 2010. 

We prayed and sang together and even played a game of Bible pictionary.  There were some pretty funny drawings and lots of laughter. 

It was great to catch up with our friends and to discover that many of them are living relatively close to Soroti.  We received many invitations back to their homes and villages, probably more than we have time for.  But as much as possible, we hope that we will get to continue to minister alongside these very special people.

Oh, by the way, we prepared way more than enough food!  We wanted to make sure no one went away hungry and planned for more than the twenty who RSVP'd in case more showed up.  However, it ended up only being only about twenty-five of us total.  In the end, we invited all the neighbors to come and take home most of the leftovers.  So we probably fed sixty to one hundred people with our meal, which made us think of Jesus' parable about the wedding feast where the host had to invite in all the people off the streets to come for the celebration!

Preaching in Pamba PAG

On Sunday I preached at Pamba PAG, which is just outside of Soroti, a short bike ride from our house.  It's the church of one of our beloved students from five years ago.  He is the senior pastor, Joseph Engolu.  We've been going to this church each week when I'm not preaching elsewhere.  It's close enough to ride our bicycles (and parents, you should know we wear helmets).  And we like how it is a smaller size than the PAG church in town.  We may continue to go here for a while when we are not traveling to other places.

The first service was in English, so I preached without a translator.  But the second service is in Ateso, so the youth pastor translated for me.  Here is a video of some of the singing.

I asked the first service English-speaking congregation to let me take a picture and record a video of them greeting all of you churches back in the United States.  Sending greetings with people is very important in Ugandan culture.  Therefore I'd like to take your greetings back to them.  If you have a brief message of greeting, or encouragement for them, I will share it with them in an upcoming week.  Send me some emails.  I think they will very much enjoy and appreciate these short messages from our churches back home.

Here is another video of singing during the worship.

I preached on the story of Jesus calling Matthew.  It was largely about how Jesus came for the lost, and to the chagrin of the Pharisees, spent most of his time with the "sinners" of that time.  I ventured to say a word about homosexuality.  I made very clear that I believe that homosexual behavior is sinful.  But I also said that as Christians, we need to befriend homosexuals, listen to them, hear about their struggles, and have compassion on them.  I didn't know how this would go over, but everyone responded very well and appreciated the message.  I pray that God will use this church greatly in their community to reach those who don't know Jesus.

After the sermon, Pastor Joseph reinforced my teaching talking about how in the past he was the "chairman of the drunkards" in the area.  His point was that all of us need Jesus, and all of us would be lost in our sins without Jesus.  Instead of judging others who are stuck in these sins, we need to reach out to them with love.  Another worship leader shared a story that gave a perfect example of what my sermon was about.  He talked about how in his home region, the place was known for alcoholism.  But his pastor made a point to sit with the drunkards every day at 5pm while they drank.  He didn't drink but he talked with them and became their friends, and they always had a chair saved for him there.  Since that time the place has been transformed and there is a very large PAG church in his home village.

After the service we had tea and some snacks.  These are termites.  I forced myself to eat them even though it seemed very strange.  But I was surprised at how much I loved them.  Aside from the awkwardness of eating insects, these things were some of the best tasting snacks I've had.  I still miss sun chips, but perhaps these can help substitute.