Wow. So it's been two weeks already. That's pretty unbelievable since it's flown by so quickly, but in a good way. I apologize for not doing an update sooner, but I've been helping a crew of three guys from a non-profit called Join The Lights who are making a movie for Restore International. It's going to be super legit, so check it out when it gets finished! They claimed that since they found me the first day I was in Gulu, they own me as their intern. Sounds pretty fair to me. My two week internship with them has been pretty awesome. Davis, Tim and Kevin are three super talented dudes and are a ton of fun to be around which has made the transition much easier than I expected. I've also spend quite some time with two other Restore volunteers, Hoke and Emma, and also Emma's mom Julie. We've had quite a crew, and nearly all of us have been working on this film with them, along with some fun adventures along the way. It's been such a blessing being surrounded by this many amazing people who love the Lord so much and are dedicated to following hard after His will. Along with that crew, I've met quite a few other volunteers in Gulu who are working with other organizations and have been able to play some Ultimate Frisbee or have a taco night at one of their apartments. There's a lot of people doing some awesome things here and I feel encouraged to see it, and humbled to think God may use me in some way to further his kingdom.
The school is awesome, and I love being out there and seeing and hearing the vision for how it'll be expanded and continue to be used to give these kids a safe and encouraging place where they can learn, play sports in the wide open fields, be fed daily and also learn about God's love for them. I've gotten to play some frisbee, soccer and basketball with random students, and it's been a really cool way to get to know them and cross the language barrier by getting nutmeg'd (getting the ball kicked through my legs - a sign of shame in soccer) like 10 times while being the monkey in the middle. The majority of people in Gulu speak Acholi, so I'm trying to pick up on some of the phrases. I think I have about 10 down so far, but at the same time they often teasingly laugh at me when I try to speak Acholi, so maybe I don't actually have those 10 phrases down... The students are so grateful to being able to go to school which is so refreshing to hear compared to how we view education in America, and they work really hard to show their appreciation. Their school goes from 7-5 during the week and they have a half day on Saturday! I got to sit in on a chemistry class while we were filming it, and naturally started nerding out and looking at all the chemicals and paying attention to the teacher's lecture. I barely noticed when the film crew left the room without me, but I really needed to find out what the mystery chemical they were trying to identify was! We walked outside and Hoke and Emma gave me a rundown of how the construction process works and what each of the crews is doing out there. Currently there are 5 crews and over 100 workers out there, so things are really moving! I think I'll be helping out with some of the construction management sort of things which I'm pretty excited about. The school is also needing some accounting/organization help so I'll probably be doing some of that too! Not exactly what I was expecting when I came over, but I didn't expect a whole lot and it's been amazing so far! I also might be able to help doing some engineering design for some of the water systems that we're installing, so that could be a lot of fun!
This last Easter weekend there seemed to be a mass exodus from Gulu and all the mzungus (white people) went down to Kampala (capitol city) or an area nearby. Our crew (minus Emma and Julie) went off to one of the Ssese islands on Lake Victora and went camping. It was a pretty crazy adventure. Our travels on Friday started at 6:00 in the morning where we got on the 6 hour bus ride to Kampala on a packed bus, but luckily our crew filled up the back of the bus, just like cool kids in middle school. We then overpack a 7 seater car with 9 people and all of our gear. Let's just say it got cozy. There was a point where the car scraped, or rather got high centered and we had to get our fat butts out of there and walk the rest of the way to the hotel Emma and Julie were staying at. We all felt terrible about our weight and decided to skip lunch. The rest of us 6 passengers then ride to the beach on Lake Victoria and walk down to the shore. We missed the ferry we were aiming to catch so we had to take a public boat, which no one quite understood what that encompassed before we see them. They are boats, maybe about 40 feet long, with lots of cargo being shipped to the islands, and they are anchored maybe 15 feet out in the water. So my thought is that they will pull the boat into shore and we'll use a ladder and climb on up. I forgot that I was in Africa. I turn around to talk to the group about our plan, when I see Tim with a Ugandan sticking his head under Tim's legs and lifting him and all his gear and walking into the water. Alright, so this is happening. I spread my legs and get lifted up on this guy's shoulders and he heads towards the boat. I look down in the water it is completely green with billions of these floating particles all over the place, maybe some sort of algae? Regardless of what it is, I would prefer to not be in it. I hold on tight to my carrier's head and he drops me off on the boat. Not so bad, barely got wet! He tries getting 10,000/- out of me but I negotiate him down to 2,000. He was fine with this rate, and the other carriers settle for 2,500. Except for Tim's. Tim's carrier was not happy at all and a couple minutes after dropping him off he comes back and starts yelling at Tim for more money. I legitimately thought he was going to climb up onto the boat and pull Tim in. Eventually he settles for the 2,500 and we are set! I step around the cartons of eggs, produce, sleeping people, and 40 chickens and get up to the front of the boat. It's a pretty full crew. Two other friends get kidnapped and put onto the boat and finally we head out. Kevin put the experience the best when he described it like this: "You know, before I was worried about my stuff being stolen. But after being picked up against my will and carried onto the boat, now I'm afraid of myself being stolen". Well said Kevin.
It's about 3:00 when we take off into the middle of Lake Victoria and to be honest don't know how long the ride will be, or even if we're going to the right island. Luckily we're a pretty easy-going bunch for the most part. Turns out after 4 hours we arrive at the wrong island, but our target island is just another 20 minute boat ride away. We transfer all of our stuff to the next boat and situate ourselves. At this point in the day, I've ridden a motorcycle, a crazily driven bus, a packed taxi, a human, and two boats. It's been quite a long day of travelling, especially without eating all day. The boat driver hands me his baby to hold for the duration of the ride and we take off and see a hippo on our way out of the harbor. The 20-minute ride was pretty surreal. The sun had just gone down, the stars burst forth in what reminds me of the clear nights out at Wildhorse, we had just seen a hippo, I have some stranger's baby asleep in my arms, and I'm on a boat packed with some new and awesome friends in the middle of a lake in Uganda. It's times like these that it "hits me". I often have to recite what's going on out loud to make it feel real. People are probably annoyed of me saying crap like, "Guys, we're in the middle of Africa right now hiking to a waterfall", but it just doesn't seem real. Andrew, our Australian host, welcomes us to the island and I return the baby to the driver's wife, who was sitting diagonal from me the whole time. I'm not sure why she didn't take her baby during the ride, but maybe she thought it was funny to watch me. I don't blame her.
The whole weekend was really relaxing, which was very necessary for everyone else because they've all been working really hard. For me, it just seemed to be a continuation of this awesome trip I've been blessed to be on. I can't lie, it was a nice taste of home to play some beach volleyball, Settlers of Catan, frisbee and other card games. If only I had brought Spikeball! It was raining that night, and not like the Africa torrential downpour rain, but more like Oregon's constant rain. The combination of the rain and sleeping in a tent made me feel like I was back in the Northwest for a bit. That morning we had our own little Easter service on Sunday where we worshiped together, read the resurrection story, and shared stories of how God has used "death" to bring about "resurrection" in our lives. It was a pretty special Easter. We boarded a much faster boat for the trip home, and it only took 2 hours this time and we didn't even have to ride a person to get off. We meet up with Emma and Julie and then have a sending-off party for Julie at the airport. I think all of us guys would agree it was nice having a mother figure around and it was sad to watch her go.
I feel so blessed to be surrounded by these amazing people I now call my friends. They are so encouraging and I'm pumped to be hanging with them for however long it ends up being. I'll be transitioning from my Join the Lights internship to working with Restore this week and am looking forward to getting involved more with the school. I appreciate all of you for reading this and especially for those of you who have been praying. God has really been comforting me in times where I've most needed it. One morning he put Joshua 1:5-9 on my heart, which to sum it up is God calling Joshua to be strong and courageous. So in my times where I'm feeling homesick, lost, confused, or just plain tired, God's call for us to be strong and courageous has been giving me continual comfort. And that is my prayer for you all, that you would be strong and courageous throughout your days, whether that means being bold and sticking up for your faith, for following after God's calling in your life, finishing school, pursuing the person of your dreams or working your job . Be strong and courageous my friends!
I'll be posting pictures to my Instagram account (I know, I'm so hipster) along with some on Facebook, and if you have the smartphone app called Viber, contact me for my number and message me so I can allow us to chat/text!
The school is awesome, and I love being out there and seeing and hearing the vision for how it'll be expanded and continue to be used to give these kids a safe and encouraging place where they can learn, play sports in the wide open fields, be fed daily and also learn about God's love for them. I've gotten to play some frisbee, soccer and basketball with random students, and it's been a really cool way to get to know them and cross the language barrier by getting nutmeg'd (getting the ball kicked through my legs - a sign of shame in soccer) like 10 times while being the monkey in the middle. The majority of people in Gulu speak Acholi, so I'm trying to pick up on some of the phrases. I think I have about 10 down so far, but at the same time they often teasingly laugh at me when I try to speak Acholi, so maybe I don't actually have those 10 phrases down... The students are so grateful to being able to go to school which is so refreshing to hear compared to how we view education in America, and they work really hard to show their appreciation. Their school goes from 7-5 during the week and they have a half day on Saturday! I got to sit in on a chemistry class while we were filming it, and naturally started nerding out and looking at all the chemicals and paying attention to the teacher's lecture. I barely noticed when the film crew left the room without me, but I really needed to find out what the mystery chemical they were trying to identify was! We walked outside and Hoke and Emma gave me a rundown of how the construction process works and what each of the crews is doing out there. Currently there are 5 crews and over 100 workers out there, so things are really moving! I think I'll be helping out with some of the construction management sort of things which I'm pretty excited about. The school is also needing some accounting/organization help so I'll probably be doing some of that too! Not exactly what I was expecting when I came over, but I didn't expect a whole lot and it's been amazing so far! I also might be able to help doing some engineering design for some of the water systems that we're installing, so that could be a lot of fun!
This last Easter weekend there seemed to be a mass exodus from Gulu and all the mzungus (white people) went down to Kampala (capitol city) or an area nearby. Our crew (minus Emma and Julie) went off to one of the Ssese islands on Lake Victora and went camping. It was a pretty crazy adventure. Our travels on Friday started at 6:00 in the morning where we got on the 6 hour bus ride to Kampala on a packed bus, but luckily our crew filled up the back of the bus, just like cool kids in middle school. We then overpack a 7 seater car with 9 people and all of our gear. Let's just say it got cozy. There was a point where the car scraped, or rather got high centered and we had to get our fat butts out of there and walk the rest of the way to the hotel Emma and Julie were staying at. We all felt terrible about our weight and decided to skip lunch. The rest of us 6 passengers then ride to the beach on Lake Victoria and walk down to the shore. We missed the ferry we were aiming to catch so we had to take a public boat, which no one quite understood what that encompassed before we see them. They are boats, maybe about 40 feet long, with lots of cargo being shipped to the islands, and they are anchored maybe 15 feet out in the water. So my thought is that they will pull the boat into shore and we'll use a ladder and climb on up. I forgot that I was in Africa. I turn around to talk to the group about our plan, when I see Tim with a Ugandan sticking his head under Tim's legs and lifting him and all his gear and walking into the water. Alright, so this is happening. I spread my legs and get lifted up on this guy's shoulders and he heads towards the boat. I look down in the water it is completely green with billions of these floating particles all over the place, maybe some sort of algae? Regardless of what it is, I would prefer to not be in it. I hold on tight to my carrier's head and he drops me off on the boat. Not so bad, barely got wet! He tries getting 10,000/- out of me but I negotiate him down to 2,000. He was fine with this rate, and the other carriers settle for 2,500. Except for Tim's. Tim's carrier was not happy at all and a couple minutes after dropping him off he comes back and starts yelling at Tim for more money. I legitimately thought he was going to climb up onto the boat and pull Tim in. Eventually he settles for the 2,500 and we are set! I step around the cartons of eggs, produce, sleeping people, and 40 chickens and get up to the front of the boat. It's a pretty full crew. Two other friends get kidnapped and put onto the boat and finally we head out. Kevin put the experience the best when he described it like this: "You know, before I was worried about my stuff being stolen. But after being picked up against my will and carried onto the boat, now I'm afraid of myself being stolen". Well said Kevin.
It's about 3:00 when we take off into the middle of Lake Victoria and to be honest don't know how long the ride will be, or even if we're going to the right island. Luckily we're a pretty easy-going bunch for the most part. Turns out after 4 hours we arrive at the wrong island, but our target island is just another 20 minute boat ride away. We transfer all of our stuff to the next boat and situate ourselves. At this point in the day, I've ridden a motorcycle, a crazily driven bus, a packed taxi, a human, and two boats. It's been quite a long day of travelling, especially without eating all day. The boat driver hands me his baby to hold for the duration of the ride and we take off and see a hippo on our way out of the harbor. The 20-minute ride was pretty surreal. The sun had just gone down, the stars burst forth in what reminds me of the clear nights out at Wildhorse, we had just seen a hippo, I have some stranger's baby asleep in my arms, and I'm on a boat packed with some new and awesome friends in the middle of a lake in Uganda. It's times like these that it "hits me". I often have to recite what's going on out loud to make it feel real. People are probably annoyed of me saying crap like, "Guys, we're in the middle of Africa right now hiking to a waterfall", but it just doesn't seem real. Andrew, our Australian host, welcomes us to the island and I return the baby to the driver's wife, who was sitting diagonal from me the whole time. I'm not sure why she didn't take her baby during the ride, but maybe she thought it was funny to watch me. I don't blame her.
The whole weekend was really relaxing, which was very necessary for everyone else because they've all been working really hard. For me, it just seemed to be a continuation of this awesome trip I've been blessed to be on. I can't lie, it was a nice taste of home to play some beach volleyball, Settlers of Catan, frisbee and other card games. If only I had brought Spikeball! It was raining that night, and not like the Africa torrential downpour rain, but more like Oregon's constant rain. The combination of the rain and sleeping in a tent made me feel like I was back in the Northwest for a bit. That morning we had our own little Easter service on Sunday where we worshiped together, read the resurrection story, and shared stories of how God has used "death" to bring about "resurrection" in our lives. It was a pretty special Easter. We boarded a much faster boat for the trip home, and it only took 2 hours this time and we didn't even have to ride a person to get off. We meet up with Emma and Julie and then have a sending-off party for Julie at the airport. I think all of us guys would agree it was nice having a mother figure around and it was sad to watch her go.
I feel so blessed to be surrounded by these amazing people I now call my friends. They are so encouraging and I'm pumped to be hanging with them for however long it ends up being. I'll be transitioning from my Join the Lights internship to working with Restore this week and am looking forward to getting involved more with the school. I appreciate all of you for reading this and especially for those of you who have been praying. God has really been comforting me in times where I've most needed it. One morning he put Joshua 1:5-9 on my heart, which to sum it up is God calling Joshua to be strong and courageous. So in my times where I'm feeling homesick, lost, confused, or just plain tired, God's call for us to be strong and courageous has been giving me continual comfort. And that is my prayer for you all, that you would be strong and courageous throughout your days, whether that means being bold and sticking up for your faith, for following after God's calling in your life, finishing school, pursuing the person of your dreams or working your job . Be strong and courageous my friends!
I'll be posting pictures to my Instagram account (I know, I'm so hipster) along with some on Facebook, and if you have the smartphone app called Viber, contact me for my number and message me so I can allow us to chat/text!
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