Pictures of Life in East Africa

By Sara:

Here are some fun pictures from our lives these days, both in Kenya and in Uganda.
Buses tend to have unusual things written on them.  In this case, Stalingrand - what?

The sun setting over Lake Victoria when we were there for World Renew East Africa team meetings:

Below are a few pictures taken by our friend and colleague Edward of some team activities we did after the meetings: sack races, an East African game kind of like mancala called Bao, and football (soccer):

We really love the people we get to work with in World Renew! 

In our time in Uganda recently, we also got to visit Edward's home and see his rabbit "wildlife park".  He has about 40 rabbits and they run free around his yard.  They keep his grass cut for him and are super cute.  It's great!  Anthony wants to do this at our home, but I want to have a garden too so I don't think it's quite so practical for me.

In Kenya, we've got our crazy dog, Caleb.  He'll be moving back to Uganda with us, but he doesn't know that yet.

Unfortunately for him, he gets carsick, so we'll have to feed him some dramamine on the trip.  This is how we give him pills:

Here's a cool flower from my banana passion fruit plant.  It's a passion fruit that is yellow and kind of shaped like a banana.  I check them every day to see if they're ready, but they are not yet.

This is one of my favorite fruits in East Africa: jackfruit.  It isn't available in this part of Kenya, so I'm looking forward to having it again when we're back in Soroti:

Here is Anthony in his official pastor uniform:

We bought bikes in Uganda which we'll be using regularly once we move back there.  We're looking forward to getting around by bike instead of having to drive a long distance to get to town:

Something fun about these bikes is that they have a person-carrier on the back.  Anthony carried me to church on the back of his bike one day.  People were extremely amused when they watched us go by:

While we stayed at our friends' house in Uganda, we discovered that Anthony is the cat whisperer.  Their cat really loved him:

I, on the other had, was usually attacked by the cat while I was trying to get work done:

The cat also loved climbing into Anthony's backpack:

Back in Kenya, we found a Chinese restaurant in Nakuru, which was a fun treat:

Scones on the Farm and Cake at the College

By Sara:

After becoming cake bakers, the workers at the Anglican Church Farm across the street wanted to learn more.  So, to build on their baking skills, we baked scones and biscuits together.

The men did a good job being involved and weren't afraid to get their hands dirty mixing the dough.

The best part of the day was when the biscuits and scones were divided up and passed around for everyone to taste.

At the end, when I asked if there were any questions about how to make these things, the only response was that they were "really sweet!"  They were confident that it will be easy to put into practice on their own.  Several of the people there even told me they were going to go home and bake some for their family that very night.

The same week, I taught the students from the college about how to make cakes.  I'm not sure if I've explained this before, but we use an easily-obtainable plastic cup for a measuring cup.  I figured out where to mark the cup for American measurements (1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, etc.).  The cups only cost about 15 cents, while American measuring cups (if you can even find them) cost $5-6.  Here are some students making measuring cups:

 They were very pleased at how well their cakes turned out:

Here's the whole group with one of their cakes and the bowl of pink frosting they made for it:

Testimonies from Students

By Anthony:

Recently I asked a few of my students if they could tell me how I have impacted them through my teaching over the last year. I was trying to get some information for an article I was writing. But since I got some great answers from them, I will share them with you in this post. I edited their comments a bit to make them into a more readable English, but I didn't change any of their ideas.

Student 1 – "Yes you impacted me, sincerely from my heart, mostly during the Reformation teachings. In fact, I was a person of fear but I came to have a stand. I realized that if Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Zwingli took a stand, then I can make it also. The Puritans did their part in bringing change and so I am there today to bring change also. I have learnt to eliminate fear, to tell the truth, and to be honest. I have in fact challenged people. Some people have approached me and encouraged me so much. I assure you that I have a good stand and the most wonderful thing is that I don't preach my own teachings but I preach from the Bible.    There is also a time you preached in the chapel and you made me believe I should not get into the ministry because of the titles that pastors get, but rather to serve God in his favour." 

Student 2 – "Yes, a lot in my life has changed, through the study of systematic theology. Also, I have learnt how to preach using different methods."

Student 3 – "Yes I have changed.  You taught me:  1. How to keep and maintain the salvation I gained through Jesus. 2. Time management, I personally gained in how to keep time. 3. I have been well equipped with knowledge of church history.  I know the things I should be willing to die for.  4. How to play ping pong.  5. I am learning to make my own action plans and how to follow them without struggling."

Student 4 – "You taught me how to keep time, time consciousness."

Student 5 – "You are a really good help to my ministry, especially on personality testing. I am now able to handle people with different personalities than mine."

Students 6 – "Personally my life has changed positively from an ordinary lifestyle as a student to being transparent, making work plans, and being willing to confess! Also, commitment to God and living in faith."

Student 7 – "Yes indeed, I have learned to be humble, compassionate, to observe and keep time, and lastly to yearn to know God the most."