Praise God for He is good always! I am always amazed how the Lord works everything for His glory. Let me start sharing (confessing) that its 2am and I am convinced that its time to update my blog….I took a cat nap earlier for just 30 minutes, but I am sure that’s not why I am up. You see when I flew out of Denver three weeks ago, I found out I could only bring my designated 3 bags…each additional bag was higher in increments….so I had to leave the extra totes home. My brother Jim and friend Stacy spent time repacking some items and then Jim drove them to Denver to meet up with the team coming from the Dakotas two weeks later. It was truly amazing that it even happened this way…but the totes arrived safely last night…I stayed up late sorting and stacking everything to pass out. Today, I handed out shoes and clothes to my family, purses to some Ugandan friends, a sewing project from the Costa Mesa team and kitchen stuff for the guest house…it was all very tiring….hence I took a short nap. Then I decided to get online and check out emails,…and chatted with some friends and my daughter on FB….noticing it was 1:30 am…I thought I should hit the sack…..thats when tote #3 was calling me…..yes the Captain…Captain Crunch that is…. I am not accustomed to eating sugary cereal but I do get a box every year and eat it during my birthday week….since I was in California and missed that, I packed it in the totes….and now almost one month later….the captain was calling…I could not sleep….So now that I am on a sugar rush…I might as well update you folks on life in the jungle….

I had an adventurous trip home starting with a 5 hour delay in Denver, diverting to Nairobi and landing 10 hours late in Uganda…which means I missed my hotel sleep and was met by my driver Setuba. We gathered a few small supplies in Ka,pala to get stocked up in the kitchen and headed back to Kasana. When I arrived, my children from Pacific surrounded the van and my door was pasted with notes from everyone. My neighbors had opened up my home and washed the floors, sprayed the doom and had tea ready for my arrival. I am so very blessed to be back. While at the missions conference they talked about when you start sharing your life around the world, you are never really “home” at any given place. They said thats where we should be, since our true home is heaven and earth is a temporal state, I liked that idea. My treasure is indeed in heaven and what we have here on earth is just material items that seem to loose value so quickly. I had a day of rest and then 5 people arrived at the guesthouse for the week of Envisioning. It is a time where New Hope staff and friends get together to share the mission of this ministry. To be united in thought and prayer and to seek the Lord for direction. Nice follow-up coming off of a missions conference in California. We also had a fun cultural day where they showed us customs, foods and dances from the different tribes. I had a great time when I got pulled in to try the cow dance, quite interesting! There are many changes happening here at Kasana and your prayers for this ministry here are welcome.

As soon as time permitted, I took a boda ride out to the villages. I so missed boda rides and my faithful driver Joseph. By the way, Joseph rededicated his life to the Lord the week before I got home…..about 8 people told me it was very exciting! Ohh….I almost forgot….when I was home I was blessed with a Flip…(awesome video thingy) and will be downloading clips now. Check out my boda ride…attached somewhere in this posting I hope. Give me grace as I have a learning curve! Praise God and thank you to those that gifted me with technology! Anyway….I was able to see Pastor Yosiah & Harriet briefly and they were excited to hear that the Lord provided for the immediate needs of the Kito school project through your love and support. Pastor Yosiah will be working with the vocational manager at Kasana to schedule time to complete the roof. While visiting California, I was able to pick up supplies for a baby project started by the Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa team, the vocational school was very excited. Again, I give praise for the insight given to me at the conference and I am amazed at Gods perfect timing in this season, I have such peace beyond all understanding.

After the week of Envisioning, I still had visitors in the guesthouse but was able to spend many evenings hanging out with my family. I really missed them all so much, it was a nice time of catching up. I also feel like I had a divine appointment with a new friend I met this past week. She has been working at hunting camps for six months, so she can support herself to do mission work the rest of the year. Taking December to go home and see family and friends. What an ideal situation I thought…..and perfect timing as I have been asking the Lord…..what next? Before anyone panics……I am not intersted in hunting camps…..but would like to have another mission assignment, Lord willing! I have been biten by the mission bug….or some kind of bug I think. I could totally see working long enough to support this habit! I ask that you be in prayer with me about having the Lords direction of His will in my life. With all that being said, the Lord is moving in strange and mighty ways! Through much prayer, petition and seeking….I am asking now and just waiting….fully surrendered, hopelessly devoted to serving Him wherever I am called. (lets pray for warm weather)

Let me close with this scripture on my heart in Matthew 25:31-36. When the son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory and all the nations will be gathered before him and he will seperate the people one from another as a shephard seperates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come you who are blessed by my father; take your inheritance, the kingdom preprared for you since the creation of the world. 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 cared for me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

As you spend your days walking this earth, who or what do you live for? Some people want me to sit on my porch waiting for a nice man to marry……(I got bored after a day) ……I want to live for Jesus, serving my King. When he comes to take me home, he wont have to look for me. He will know me, because I will be walking beside him and he with me. What peace I have in not knowing what each day brings, but knowing he has planned each of my days. And if he has a nice guy planned in my future….he knows what country to send him to right?? LOL I hope you are living in his peace. To God be the glory, for in our weakness, He is strong.

Blessings to all~

Desiree’

FYI – I have not been kidnapped although it may seem that way…I cant believe how long it has been since I have blogged. Not that nothing has happened but everything has happened lately and I havent been able to find time to blog… Reading over the last blog made me realize, I need to wrap up the end of the year and be better in the New Year!

Last year ended for me when the last team left New Hope. The American staff had Thanksgiving dinner and I was blessed with a turkey leg! I then got busy preparing to close things up for the Holiday season and was blessed with finances that provided for me to make an unexpected trip home. Prior to leaving, I had such mixed feelings as I was on the phone one day, assuring my daughter I would be there soon and missed her so much…then a knock came at the door and two girls from my family asked, “Auntie, when will you be leaving?” I said very soon, but I love you and will miss you so much and will be home soon……it was then that I realized I was leaving home to go home so I could quickly return home……(maybe I should take a break)

Kasana /Uganda has indeed found a special place in my heart and I totally love it there. I am so blessed with a loving Pacific family that I share my life with. I was also very excited to return to Colorado to see my own children and grandchildren and to share all that God had done. The Lord has used me to help finish a school project that was started by my church almost 4 years ago. While home, I had a couple of fellowship nights, met with friends and sat in on bible studies and spoke to a womens group…all in the glory of God. I have been blessed to bring home the total amount needed to finish the roof on the school and also provide benches in the classrooms, God is soooo good! Through your love and financial support, I have been able to accomplish many interesting projects that the Lord has put in front of me. It has been amazing to watch His provision and see all that He does with a surrendered life. In my weakness, I see His strength!

I was mightily blessed to be home exactly one week when my grandson ventured into the world. I was honored to be there for the birth and assisted in his first bath. Gavin Friederick Lechner was born on December 14th at 8lbs, he also came out with a full head of hair. Such a little man and I was so blessed to be present for the arrival of this beautiful gift from God. I also reaquainted with little Xaviar as he was talking much more than when I left and is being potty trained. Morgan and Charli are getting big and attend a private school with their cousin Caroline, the three girls are quite a site! As much as I missed the grandchildren, I know it will be even harder this time around but God has a plan in my life and theirs. We had great fun as we caught up and I totally enjoyed just loving on them and spoiling them. We had family pictures taken and Javen and Audrey were able to join us from Florida. Ryan was so excited to spend time with his son. Ryan is doing great as he is setting up home not far from my place, Katie is in the process of moving houses and jobs. Nicole is staying busy with her jewelry business, Lia Sophia and Josh has been debating a move to Texas. It was great to be home for a time and see all that my children are involved in.

We shared a family New years evening eating crab, shrimp and mussels served with lots of butter and thrown on a paper tablecloth. Some even at the potato but I didnt want to waste the room in my stomach! This is one of our favorite family times and we try to do it at least once a year. We then played pool, darts and foosball in the newly crafted “Man Cave”. My brother has claimed my garage and has transformed the interior with drywall and carpet and a slew of “man things”. We ended the night watching the fireworks off the peak. Shortly after New years I was blessed with a trip to Costa Mesa California to attend a missions conference. the Lord totally blessed my time there and I really enjoyed meeting people from all different countries and seeing what the Lord was doing all over the world. My favorite time was the second evening we had late worship and they sang “How great is our God” in several different languages simultaneously…it was like sitting at the foot of the throne. I could not even sing in English because I was so touched by this angelic choir…it must be like this in heaven. The confernce ended and I was honored to have dinner with the Costa Mesa team that had visited New Hope and blessed me with this conference. There was three of us that continued into the evening with street ministry to the homeless…then breakfast and conversation until 4am at the local diner. We continued on in the early hours visiting Home Depot (for seeds) then Trader Joes and ending with breakfast at IHop before they escorted me to the airport. I had not pulled an all nighter in years and was cracking up when I got on the plane! What an incredibly blessed time with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I have been running like crazy the last four days as I have packed up for Uganda and weighed all the tubs. I have many skirts, shirts and shoes to pass out when I get home. My children have been hanging out as much as possible and meeting for meals, it should be like this all the time! We ended with a bang as my grandchildren had a sleep over and my oldest daughter stayed up with me all night as we finished the “list” that seemed to keep growing. My brother arrived for breakfast with the rest of my children and we had our “last meal” before the 10 errands that ended in a drive to Denver airport. As I sit here I am blessed even in the knowledge of a plane delay. I wanted to have time to update my blog and seemed to have failed so many times, but with Gods grace, my plane has been delayed 4 hours and I have been sitting here catching up on emails, reading facebook and “chatting” with others as I try to update my blog before heading to the bush.

As i close, I want to thank you all for the blessing you are in my life, your friendship, your prayers and just your geniuine love for me is very humbling. I would ask for your continued prayers as I set out to Uganda not certain if I will be home for the 4th of July or the first fall of snow. God knows and I am totally free to live daily without the worry of tommorrow, I have no fear because He goes before me and stands beside me and watches me from behind! Pray about the Lords will in your life and what He would have you surrender this year. I pray that you have an unexpected blessing and a peace beyond all understanding this coming year.

Blessings to all,

Desiree’

Greetings to everyone….I have been thinking about the last team that I served here and I am once again amazed at Gods blessing. Hosting this last team was like having family over, we hit it off instantly and I really enjoyed each member of the team. I felt like it was a God appointment in so many conversations, I even met the woman who has been working on a cookbook for the guesthouse and we will now complete the project together. Each member of this team was so eager to serve and they were very united as a team. The leadership have been making a yearly trip to NHU for 18 years, so they were well seasoned and flexible to the work that needed to be completed. The Lord blessed me in having the opportunity to see them off to the airport. As many of you know, I have been praying about further missionary work. I have been given an opportunity to go to a Missions conference with this team, now that is so God! I can’t wait to see what He will show me during the conference. It is weeks like this that have me perfectly content on living in Uganda, serving great people and loving the “work” God has given me in this season. Though I miss my family and friends so much.

As I look forward to coming home for a visit, I wanted to share my life here as well as my adventures. I have learned many things about life in general since I have lived in Uganda…one thing I have learned is not to get too shaken about anything. My perspective on life has sure changed for the better I believe. On Wednesday of this past week, I was in bed because I had a bike accident and was laid up for a day and half. I rode my bike off the end of my porch as I headed out to the guesthouse….only this time it had just rained and the porch was slick and I lost control as I jumped and landed in the gravel. Thankfully, I got my knees fully covered before I was found and given help up.(LOL) So anyway I survived and had started writing a blog during that time and was knocked off the internet 3 times and was still not able to post. Maybe God didnt like my previous topics! So I got to catch up on my sleep and had a great amount of time in the word. I then watched a movie with Nicholas Cage..called Family Man, it really got me thinking. Its about a business man who gets a “glimpse” of what his life could have been like, had he made different choices. Although I wish I had chosen not to ride my bike that morning, in all I have no regrets of the main choices I have made in my life. This past choice of packing up and moving to another country has got to be the most radical thing I have ever done. Again, not a bad choice but it has definetly given me a “glimpse” of a whole other life. I often wonder if I will wake up in my bed with grandchildren yelling for Nana down the hall. (you have to watch the movie now although not “family” approved) I wanted to share a glimpse of my life in Uganda, not necessarily the latest adventures but daily life as I see it here…..

Friday, November 13th I woke up to the sound of roosters and then heard someone with a wheelbarrel going past my window…I estimated it was between 6 and 6:30am…I rolled over grabbed my bible and had a good 30 minutes in the word and then another 10 minutes or so of discussion with God. We have actually gotten quite close and I talk to Him daily if not hourly. ( I know I have lost some of you by now but please continue…I am not crazy…) The girls and I met in the kitchen about 2pm to cook dinner for the Pacific Family. (thats my family group) Auntie Marion is leaving for England this next week so we are having “Christmas” early. We had a great dinner, celebrated life and ended with a wild game of spoons! Having 20 children in the family, makes any gathering a party.

Saturday, November 14th I woke up about 530 am with an alarm, had my quiet time and quickly got dressed, headed to the road for a matato ride to Kampala. I reminisced about the first time I landed in Kampala and the ride to New Hope. The new sounds and smells and sights that have now become so familiar. I know the towns and the fields that mark how much father we have to travel. Zoe,Kate, Lea and I were going to the holiday bazarre at the University and then making a day of it. As we landed in the taxi park in the middle of town, we decided to get a private hire (car) to take us several miles out to the university. However after some fun shopping, we only had the option of bodas to ride back. so here we are 4 ladies sitting side saddle, zooming through traffic at rapid speed, dodging cars and racing each other…hanging on for dear life really. Then all of a sudden I get the song “I am free” cranking in my head….I felt like belting it out and standing on the seat…..I settled for screaming it out to the boda next to me and “flying” with my arms as we giggled our way through town. I totally felt the years being restored….:) We had a great lunch at the sidewalk cafe in Kampala and then hiked it back to the taxi park. I got home at 5pm and had dinner on the table by 6:30 for the leadership meeting of our family. We discussed issues with some children and also started making plans for our family vacation in May. Where do you take 20 kids and 6 adults for real cheap in the jungle?? Please keep us in prayer about this….

Sunday, November 15th – Went to church from 10:30 – 1pm….first hour of worship, announcements and welcoming visitors followed by an hour long sermon. Then I invited Zoe and Josh over for lunch and we hung out until dinner time. I had daily devotions and ate dinner with my family group. Took a quick 30 minute boda ride, perfect time of day to watch the sunset over the fields in the nearby village. Then I stayed up late, packing “round one” for my trip home. (I always pack like 4 or 5 times before I actually leave…just ask Stacy or my kids!)

Monday, November 16th I headed out to Luwero with Setuba to go to the vegetable market. This is always an exciting time of bartering and laughing over the veggies! I have made some real friends in the market and I now get Ugandan prices and special bonuses when I show up…praise God as this used to be the hard part of my job! I even found someone that will sell me eggs that have been WASHED…really this is a big deal as I buy 500 eggs at a time. I then met my staff at the guesthouse to make beds and get the final details together, we had a team arriving from Alaska by 3pm. I have organized our team to work together and play together…an old family moto and we are very close knit in the guesthouse. I thank the Lord for the gift he has given me as we have unity and really enjoy each other.

Tuesday, November 17th The day went pretty normal as far as the guesthouse goes. I went to my bible study where we finished the last week in the Beth Moore series ” A Womans Heart”. (thanks Mimi) The study covers the tabernacle as Gods dwelling place. It was a great study and this last week was titled, Mended hearts, Eternal Ties. It talked about the level of intimacy we have with the Lord. We can be believers, and even show up at church each week…raise that up to serving in ministry at some level….things look great. But take an inventory of how close you are to the Lord. That was eye opening and so timely for me. He and I are closer than we have ever been before..it is sort of hard to explain but I know there has been a change in our relationship. Maybe its because I followed Him to another continent, and let go of what I thought I wanted…only to find Him giving me more than I could ever expect. I am not saying you have to do anything radical…but some of us need to get out of the box. Take inventory my friends, let Him get close to you wherever you are.

Wednesday November 17th Well, as I started this out, today was the day I took a spill on my bike….maybe the Lord had a little more to share with me as I spent plenty of time listening and contemplating my life as I was laid up. Funny thing is ..a few people had told me to slow down…..I guess when I didn’t listen….He shouted!!

Friday, November 19th There was a graduation ceremony for those that were in the Institute, that includes Auntie Gertrude who had previously ran the guesthouse. Then after dinner, Pacific family had “game night” we ended up watching Madagascar and the kids loved it.

Saturday, November 20th I took 4 members from the team to the Kiwoko market on bodas…it was a fun time, ending in a rain shower on a very hot day. It was also family day at Kasana child care center, where the relatives of the children here can come for a visit and have lunch and the end of year school program. Many children were excited to see brothers or Aunties that only come a couple of times per year.

Today, Sunday, November 21st – Went to church for the 1st hour, then headed to prison ministry where we go every other week. This week we served a meal after the service and then I am the assistant to the nurse and I help clean wounds and fill prescriptions as needed. Again, I have to wonder what my future holds! When I got home I made green chili sauce for my family group and had dinner with them. I am torn about leaving this family to see my biological family….is that not confusing me…..but dont worry, I am coming, though I will miss being here.

Well, I know this was a long one but wanted to give you a glimpse of how I live. Apart from all the electrical outages and failed attempts to posts other blogs…this is pretty much what happened in a nut shell this last week. PS I usually take a couple of boda rides each week if I am not recovering from an accident. I have been asked to share briefly at the WOW Christmas tea and look forward to seeing the ladies there, the Lord gave me the message even before I knew where I was going to deliver it! I am looking forward to the opportunity of seeing so many of you when I am home and hopefully this blog will help cut off some of the time in catching up. Then I will have more time to hear about your lives! By the way, I love getting a glimpse of home on Facebook, so be my friend there if you arent already! With that being said, remember my internet is fragile, so please do not invite me to any extras on facebook ie: clubs, quizzes etc as it only knocks me off the internet when I have tried to join anything. God bless you and I cant wait to be home although I really fear freezing to death while I am there!

Let your light shine!

Desiree’

I am once again amazed at the turning of pages…I just found out today that its the end of October and realized…I need to update my blog……So sorry to my family and friends for taking so long. I have had a crazy month needless to say. We have a great team here right now from Calvery Chapel Costa Mesa, in fact they have been coming for 18 years and even laid the foundation of the guesthouse. So they are very honored guests and so far, loads of fun. I talked four of them to get on bodas with me today and go to the market in Kiwoko after lunch. Gave them the “town tour” dragging a bunch of mzungus through the hardware store, the supermarket and stopping by to sample the somosos (African fast food)

Let me try to back up now and catch up with the adventures! The first weeks of October we had Calvery Chapel Oxnard at the guesthouse, a team of 9 people. I am fascinated about each story I hear of how God brings people to this ministry. Each one is so different but all have reference to hearing Gods call…I have really thought hard about that and it has rung true with me as well. I had wanted to come to Uganda for a couple of years, but this time, I knew I was being called by God and I answered. It was totally His timing and I can see now that it would have been a much different experience if I had come on my own power any earlier. On October 9th, (Pastor Daniels BD) Uganda celebrated 47 years of Independence from the British…(ironic that Daniel was British) anyway we had a big community meeting and out of 60 some tribes in Uganda, we have 42 tribes represented here at Kasana. We then ate lunch together and had a big football match. (they only let one mzungu on the field at a time, I think they were getting in the way…) It was a great afternoon and ended with a nice boda ride and then a great rainstorm. How perfect!

The next day I talked with my family as my youngest son Joshua (23) and oldest granddaughter Morgan (7) celebrated their birthdays on the 10th. My heart was tugging as I wanted to be home for this special family time, but God knows his plan for my life right now and I am trusting Him with my family while I am gone. It is hard to explain how God works but I am totally convinced He knows….He knows what is best for me, He knows my hearts desire, He knows and sees the full picture and I can rest, just knowing that He has good plans for me!

In the middle of the month, I was granted the honor of meeting Bizi, a son from the beginings of the Kasana family. If you have read the book, ((The long road to Hope) Bizi is listed in chapter 23 and also on the promo CD for NHU. Auntie Jamie Dangers brought him to my house when he had stopped by to visit their family. By the way, I have finally figured out how to upload photos!! Right after Bizi came, we had the Silks arrive, Gordon was 83 and his wife Mary is “older” and they have been coming to Africa since the early 1950s. This was probably thier farewell visit and I was honored to serve them. We had very exciting conversations as I fixed them a breakfast of posho pouridge every morning, at their request. Many people here at Kasana had them over for dinner and Rukundo was one of them. He invited them but didnt ask me to make the dinner until the day before! Since we dont a local Walmart, we had to improvise. Rukundo ran around the chicken coup and then finally called the kids to catch the cock…but he came around the corner holding the chicken as his own trophy! I then got to watch him slice the neck, drain the blood, throw it in a bucket of hot water…then he handed it to me to pluck! I am now an experienced chicken plucker….and will add that to my resume right after bean sorter. I often wonder what the Lord is preparing me for next! Anyway the Silks were great entertainment and provided too many stories to share here. In summary, I did get a 25 minute demonstration on cleaning my lantern from Gordon…things a girl needs to know to survive in Africa. Because the more you burn it, the darker it becomes…..hummm

i had an awesome garden this past season, tons of lettuce, huge radishes that were so hot, cucumbers the size of my forearm, gigantic carrots and three pots of string beans! The ground is very fertile here, I even have a small “garden” that started growing outside the back door of the kitchen. We pitch “bad” beans out the back door and dishwater at times…the other day I had asked Fred to pick the weeds. It was my fourth request and when it was still green in one area, I was going to weed it myself. When I got a little closer and yanked on some plant…it was full of string beans and the taller plant had 5 small tomatoes growing, next to the vine of pumpkin….he had pulled the weeds…the rest was vegetables growing from nowhere! You can also plant a stick in the ground and it will grow into a tree or bush very quickly. It really is amazing how fast food grows and you have to wonder why so many people are hungry in Africa. Uganda is the “Pearl” of Africa, and very different from the Congo or Sudan. I never realized how big Africa is but land wise it makes the entire United States look tiny!

As many of you have heard, the Danger family is heading home to Colorado for some needed rest. At first I had a pity party, because I so wanted to come to serve them, but then I realized I am doing just that, whether they are here or not. In fact, God knew before I came that He would take the Dangers out of the picture. I think if He would have told me that I may not have come…He only gives us what we can handle at the time…because He knows us intimately! Anyway, since they have made a choice to rest…they have been quite busy with their good byes…and I was able to cater two meals for them with the guesthouse staff…..hence using my catering experience…..not just a coinkidink…but God knows…..We fed 35 one meal and another 80 or so a couple of days later. I will miss them but know that I am here on a mission and will continue on. As part of their goodbyes, we had a singles night of singing and fellowship, it was my first official “singles” event…that was kind of a weird experience since I havent been single in so many years. We all had a great night of fun and I am really embracing this stage of my life.

Last weekend I ran out of shampoo and I found out braiding my hair cost about the same as a new bottle. So I got a new hairstyle! The first few nights I could not sleep well because the braids were so tight. People said I looked younger but I really think it was the temporary facelift action going on. They have relaxed a bit and I slept well last night! I posted pics on facebook! I am counting the days until I get to travel home for a visit. I had not intended on returning to Colorado for at least one year, however there have been some changes going on. I have been asked to pray about staying a little longer, we are not sure what the Lord is doing but I am praying hard. Funds were provided for me to come home and talk with my family and those that are currently sponsoring me. Please pray that I get clarity on what I am suppose to do to remain in His will for my life. The enemy can take things and make us run in the wrong direction, like minimal funding has me questioning wether or not I should commit to longer. This is not a plea for support, but a plea for prayer, I do not want anyone supporting me that has not heard from the Lord to do so. I want to make sure this is Gods calling and not just a test of obedience. Some days I can see living here long term and then some days I am choked up thinking about my children, family and friends that I so dearly miss. The past two months my sponsorship money has been minimal, so I am coming home for a time of rest, prayer and to check on my family. Pray that the Lord clearly opens doors that I should walk through and closes doors that are not in His plan, because afterall, He knows! I will arrive in Denver on December 7th and look forward to having coffee and ice cream with many of you. Thank you for your love, your support and your prayers, may the Lord bless you abuntantly and call on you to serve Him daily. When He calls, please answer.

I also wanted to just remind everyone that internet is not always available and I have noticed your notes and prayers and have often been knocked offline or loose power before I can properly respond. So thank you to Pearl, a longtime friend from my childhood, Donna Kay, I got your message from Capetown, my mother and close friends at MSC and all my family…..and any others that have sent emails or posted things on Facebook…I love the encouragement and contact and miss you all so much! I pray for your safety and for you all to be living an abundant life of freedom.

I serve the mighty Lord, King of Kings, The Creator of all things…and He knows each one of us intimately!
,
Desiree’

Wow time does fly when your having fun! I realized I better get an update going at the rate things happen around here its hard to go too long without sharing. Since coming home from Jinja, I had an opportunity to travel to Kampala with Auntine Constance. She has been here 8 years and thought she would show me a safe place to rest..and I had my first boda ride in Kampala…which is taking your life into your own hands and I am so thankful I dont live in the city! I thought for sure I was going to fall off as we stopped for a traffic light…all the bodas line up like a BMX race and when the light turns green…hold on!!! Off we went volleying for first place to the next light, dodging in between cars…I was praying hard the whole way, good thing I was going to get to rest soon. LOL We went to the ARA (American Recreation Association) that has armed guards and a metal detector at the front gates…run by the embassy in fact. The hilarious thing is that the metal detector goes off on everyone and nobody blinks…maybe it doesnt go off if you are dangerous..hummm. Anyway, it seemed pretty safe inside the compound..there was a nice swimming pool, playground, tennis courts (dirt that they mark with chalk every few rounds) and nice gardens to sit around. The food and service was “very american” and they charged “american” prices….but I did relax and they had a video library so we watched a movie and I finished an entire book the two days we were there.

The day after we got back, boda man Joseph and I went to paint the War memorial and clean the grounds. Upon arriving he set out to find the man in charge and get confirmation for us to work there, so I was left at the memorial. Within minutes, I had 30 or so kids running from the water hole and coming out of bushes to check out the mzungu in their midst…..since we have a language barrier, I got out my camera and started taking shots…then showing them their picture..this is always a huge success. But it almost turned into a riot, so I had to figure out a way to calm them. I asked them to sit down…then I started picking each one by height and lining them up. When they figured out what I was doing, they all jumped up and started measuring against each other, trying their best to get in the right order. I was then going down the line and snapping pictures when Joesph showed back up. He was amazed that I had gotten them to line up. (when my kids were little, we used to do this with all the neighborhood kids before the big Easter.egg hunt. ) It turned into a real community event when the kids started to help us clean up and then the man in charge gave a history lesson on the memorial and opened the tomb for everyone to see the 5000 or so skulls and bones. As we were leaving, I gave the ponga and slasher (yard tools) to the guy in charge and asked that he keep up the maintanece. Then we heard a “jaja” (grandmother) calling and she was headed for us…she gave me an avacado and kept kissing my neck and talking really fast….then she was scolding the other guy and we left. I told Joseph, I really hope they keep things clean..and he laughed…he said the Jaja was telling the man “this white women from another world came to do your job” so I guess she will be keeping them accountable! On the way back to Kasana Joseph shared that he actually helped collect the bones for the memorial, he had often wondered if he had personally picked up his fathers skull. Cleaning up the memorial finally gave him peace about his dad and he wants to come visit this place as he has now claimed it to be his fathers resting place. It was very powerful to be given this opportunity to give something to the community here. God is so powerful, we had an awesome day.

Auntie Christine is our family mom and watches the little ones during the day and makes lunch for Rukundo. She fell sick this past week with malaria and so I took over this role. The little ones and I had a great time and we played in wash tubs, watched movies, picked radishes in the garden…at times I would get choked up thinking of doing those things with my own grandchildren. I also watched Marie (my neighbor that is 4) and one afternoon she screamed like she had seen a snake…shen I ran outside I found her mother had come to get her and she was hanging onto my water tower screaming for dear life…she didnt want to leave! We had a fun time of playing and Rukundo was glad it was only for a week because he said he would get fat if I had to cook for him any longer…he thinks the spices make you fat because they make the food taste good and you eat more. I ended the week with a fried rice class that 27 women attended and we had a great time of fellowship. I think soy sauce will be the next big import item to Uganda…I had bought every bottle on the shelf for my class (as door prizes) and now have orders to buy more next time I shop. I finally got my living room painted and my furniture back in place…Yahoo!

My friend Jenessa went home for six weeks to see her newest grandchild and so things have been a little quiet. But we have started the Beth Moore bible study that Mimi Hailes let me borrow…thanks Mimi we are loving it and it is following along the lines of what we are doing in church right now…God has perfect timing!
The Danger family returned from their travels to the UK and have decided they need a long term break, after more than 20 years of full time ministry. No doubt it is needed and well deserved but I cant say I wasnt disappointed. Upon hearing the news, I had myself a pity party and told God this wasn’t fair…but He knew all along that it would take place. So now I am wondering what else He has in store for me! He is always faithful and I trust His plans.

Yesterday, Rukundo and I went to Ggoma to watch the cattle sales. When we first headed out we thought we could catch a matato, so we waited on the street for 1 1/2 hours to no avail. Then we seen the Zain truck….(cell phone company) there was about 5 kids in the back of a little toyato pick up with Zain shirts heading west. So Rukundo talked with the driver and found that they were heading to Ggoma. So we hitched a ride…making that 4 across the front seat! We had to stop in a couple of little town to distribut Zain minutes but we got there for only 10,000 (5 bucks) LOL OUr trip home was by matato and was 20,000. The cattle sale was amazing with 4-500 heads of longhorn cattle being piled into trucks…literally on top of each other. It was quite a site and I forgot my camera but he said we could go again. It was a fairly large little town, complete with a decent sized restaurant, pool hall and many shops. The local market was in town so that always makes it very busy. We were talking as we walked and all of a sudden Rukundo looks around in amazement…I had been aware of the entourage of 30 or more kids following us..I had to remind him he was with a white chick and we laughed. Some of the kids had never seen a white person so they come up and poke you or pull on your skirt and then yell mzungu mzungu!!

I have this week to get the schedules made and start the shopping list, as a team arrives on Monday and off we go again..I will have 5 teams visiting between now and the end of Novemeber. So continued prayers for wisdom, strength and peace about my work here is always appreciated!

I will end with some great news for the MSC family back home. Our church had started a school building for a local village about 2 years ago, when they came this summer, it was very disappointing to see the bricks still laying there and nobody had continued the project. They said there was no money for the cement and they needed man power, so MSC left the money for the cement. I then took charge and have been working on getting a team together. After talking with Uncle Jonnes, I got in touch with Uncle Geoff who heads our school of carpentry and building. He came up with the man power as a school project and I pitched in the money need to provide meals for the team of 10 for 5 days. (By those that are sponsoring me in my finances and the grace of God for being here) So in two weeks, they are heading out for a week long trip to finish the school building! Praise God, I will bring home the pictures of the completed project. Thank you MSC family for loving Kasana, poor children in Uganda and this Mzunga! Really folks, it is amazing how far your hand can reach to touch the lives here and I am so thankful for you all. For you prayers and for the finances to bless this and other projects I have in mind and for helping to buy my beans and chipates!

May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Desiree’

Greetings,

Well, I did it.I woke up early and headed out a 5:45 am in the dark and waited for the matato (public transport) and sure enough it stopped. I was pleasantly surprised when there was only one other lady on board….until we headed back up the road in the opposite direction honking the horn like crazy all the way…people came out of nowhere and jumped on the road and piled in….by the time we got back past where they picked me up we had 10 and picked up 4 more in Kiwoko. We didnt even have room for a conductor so we stopped at 15 including the driver. I was not all that excited about being crammed into the back of the van so I kept jumping out and letting people in so I could be by the door. Assuring a window seat was my goal and it made the trip much more bearable. The Ugandans were all stirred up that a mzungu was on board, no less in the conductor seat! A conductor is like on a train…they open the door at the stops and collect the money for the driver…how do I get in these situations?? I arrived 5 hours later in Jinja after a successful transfer in Kampala, where I got on a matato with 13 people and 3 chickens. The plan was to rest for 2 days in Jinja then meet up with a family and stay in Kampala two nights, then get a ride back to NHU. I was so looking forward to this trip for a time of relaxation……

But the adventure began….it was 11 am Thursday when I arrived, so I checked in and was thrilled to find a bathtub!! I immediately ran hot water and jumped in, I have never been so excited to take a bath but I have only had access to cold showers since arrving in Africa, so it was soooo great to just soak in hot water. In fact over the next three days I had a total of 5 hot baths! Anyway, I first set out on foot and quickly found a great boda boda driver (Bosco), what a blessing he became. I got dropped off at the Source of the Nile….it was beautiful and very exciting.. I took a bunch of pictures and even had a marriage proposal..(LOL). I walked into this shop and the man announced “you are my wife!” and he thought we should meet for dinner to discuss things…I tried to explain that I didnt think we should get married but then I politely took his number and quickly walked away agreeing to “call him”. I then called Bosco got dropped off in town and did a little shopping for gifts. When I was finished he dropped me off behind my hotel at a little restaurant that served great brick pizza. I realized I should have dropped off my packages first so I decided to take a little walk up the alley and have a bath before dinner…..thats when 2 guys bumped me and I yelled HEY and they left me alone. I was kinda proud that they continued walking…I had tried to sound tough…..To make a long story even longer (as Daniel would say) I later discovered that I didnt have my phone, in fact I had been robbed by those guys! Over the course of the next two days it got really crazy with this guy calling all my friends back home telling stories, nobody was able to call me, I ended up going to the police station 3 times with updated reports. The police station was a crack up…I kept looking for the Candid Camera…this guy was taking a hand written statement and I had to work hard at not laughing, he finished things by punching a hole and tying it to something else with yarn…there were many characters coming and going…overall I spent about 6 hours in the police department. I cant even discribe it here but it was very comical and Barney Five. The following morning I was at breakfast when I noticed the newspaper guy with the daily headlines reading “3 dead in riots in Kampala” over the king not being able to visit his district. Heading home was now out of the question, they had securioty guards and army on the dam that leads to Jinja…everyone would be safe if we stayed in Jinja was the report.

On my second visit to the police I was directed to the cell phone office to have the line cut off so he could not use my phone. I kept my number so my friends could still call me but then the man started calling me from other phones. Thinking now that I may be in danger they upped the security at the hotel, my boda driver was bringing me food and water…friends were checking if I was alright…New Hope was worried. . I contacted New Hope and was restricted to pass through Kampala, due to the rioting on Saturday my friends had to cancel plans to pick me up, and the crazy guy is still calling my phone. The most sane thing I could think of was to call Bosco and go to Bujagoli Falls for the day and it was a great choice. We then hit a small village and had dinner, bought some casava chips and then he dropped me back off at the hotel. The next morning I cut off my phone and gave the sim card to the police, and I changed my number. As I was leaving the police station, I ran into the guy that wanted to marry me and had to apologize for not contacting him about our marriage…explaining that I had police problems and needed to go now….. I headed back to the hotel and received a message to stay put because they werent sure it was safe to ride public transport or to travel alone in Kampala, so I was to wait for a driver from New Hope to come and rescue me. This is when I crammed in my 5th bath…. They sent Setuba to come pick me up (which cost more than my three day holiday stay) but at least I was safe and in good hands! My 5 day holiday turned into a three day ADVENTURE….I arrived home to a fanfare of people telling me about all the calls from the crazy guy and everyone was thankful that I had made it home safely…..had dinner with my family….took a cold shower and was happy to be home back in the village.

I spent the evening thinking about the places we go and the crazy world we live in..in some aspects Africa is no different than America…there are crazy people everywhere. I think about how God provided my boda boda man Bosco to be so kind and caring….he helped me get food, went with me to the police, showed me around town and kept me safe. Bosco even called me today to see if I was alright and I promised to call him next time I came to Jinja….did I just say next time??..LOL

I know one thing for sure, I wont be traveling alone….I have a bunch of friends here that would not let me leave the front gates again if they had their way…but I assured them that God drew me close and has His hand on my life…we cant live in fear….but I think I will take my adventures closer to the village in the future. May God give you His peace in your life and knowledge that He never leaves us or forsakes us as we travel the places we go….He goes before us.

Blessings and hugs to everyone

Desiree’

Hello Dear friends and loved ones…although I also do love my friends…anyway, time is flying by for me and its really hard to believe that it is already September. I dont remember if I mentioned that since I am on the equator, the days are 12 hours and then 12 hours of night, but the weird thing is it happens almost instantly….you can wake up at 5:50 am look outside its pitch black…you get something on and head to the latrine, and on your way back you notice it is broad daylight….I had this enlightening discovery one morning and realized I needed to be fully dressed before leaving my house at that hour. At night it is the same thing..it’s like God turns off the light switch and throws the stars into the sky.

Since my last post, I have been to Ugandan funeral. One of our family fathers lost his own mother and several of New Hope members went to support him. They lined the tipper (huge truck) with church benches and filled that full and then we took several other cars and trucks…but we numbered few compared to the 4-500 people that were already there. She died on a Saturday and the burial was done on Monday…I was amazed at how fast the word traveled. Ugandans meet for a time of sharing and a small service and then at precisly 4pm (unless you are a twin….they get buried at 2pm) its time for the burial. Everyone walked into the bush behind the house where the family burial grounds were and a hole had been prepared. The men lowered the casket and put pillows and blankets around and then a mesh grate, roofing tin and more rebar then started filling it with cement. The caskets in Uganda have windows either on the side or on the top so you can make sure the person being buried is the right one and that the person is indeed not alive…with a burial now being witnessed I think the window thing is a good idea because it all happened so fast.

Well, as I mentioned I have not had guests so I have had a bit of time on my hands….and have been exploring the outer villages from where I live with my boda boda driver, his name is Joseph. For those of you that have read the New Hope Book, Joseph is one of the original 10 children that formed New Hope and he now lives with his wife and 2 daughters in Kabubu. We have been to Wakayamba to visit the childcare center, Kiryanango to see the watering well, Wabitunda, we saw white turkeys in Lwabijogo and today we went to the memorial for the war. I forgot the name of the little village now but I was amazed at the memorial. The area I live in had a Peoples War from 1981-1986, the exact years that I gave birth to my children. The memorial that I seen today is a small building with a large tomb and granite tiles, one that explains the war. A man seen us looking at the memorial and came by to tell us that this tomb held 5000 skulls of people from the war. Skulls that were collected all over the nearby villages as people returned and started living on the land again. They even moved the encasing and showed us the mass grave. When I returned home, I was talking to Jennie about wanting to go remark the grave words that had been worn off and Joseph wanted to go “slash” (cut the grass) around the memorial. Then she told me that it would be very meaningful to him because he had lost his father in that war and that is how he became a son of New Hope. I have plans to go next thursday to help restore this landmark and honor my friend Joseph.

Back at Kasana I have been skipping rope with the girls and kicking a banana leaf ball like soccer with some of the little guys…we have a great time. I have also been working in the gardens with the kids as they have had the last two weeks of school off. Since they went back to school on Monday, I have no playmates and found myself eating mangos and sitting under banana trees…..it was when I caught myself singing “Bare Necessities of life…” that I thought it might be good to get out of the jungle for a bit…. so I am going on a journey to Jinja.

Jinja is about a 4 hour ride on public transport…which is much cheaper than having a hired driver, so public it is….and I am sure much more of an adventure! I really need to wrap up and get to bed, I have found out the “express” matato comes at around 6am. If I miss that one, then the next one will stop many more times along the way. Rukundo just found out at dinner tonight that I was planning on taking public, so he called the driver for me and asked him to look for the muzungo (white chick) along the way…..thanks Rukundo. A matato is the locals version of a taxi…a mini van that they stuff 14 people into (not exagerrating this time) and off you go like a bat out ….fast…very very fast….. Knowing that I would soon venture on the matato, I tried one on Monday to go to Luweero…just 18 km up the road….there was only 12 people in when they stopped to get me and we were flying when I heard a pop and then rubber started flying off the car….we came to a shrieking halt..slidding on dirt gravel roads and then everyone piled out…sure enough we had blown a tire. Then they all piled back in and we finished the journey all the way into the taxi park. There you go, you only have to check that its flat before you proceed. The entire country is somewhat of an amuzement park….without paying for the thrill rides…there are wild animals, wild rides, people always yelling muzungo as if I am in a freak show.
So I will be sending a prayer request for travel safety as I venture to Jinja. I plan on taking a time to pray, sleep in, and go to Bujagoli Falls. I also heard they have ATVs to rent and plan on doing that for 4 hours on the second day, it runs right alongside the falls. There is white water rafting as well, but I believe it is out of my prce range. I am traveling as cheaply as possible staying at dormitories for only $5 night and spend some money on adventures instead of fancy pillows. Then I am going to splurge one night, I was told there is a place that serves ribs…I cant wait to have ribs…!!!

Speaking of the bare necessities of life….if you have a bible, dark chocolate and real oranges….you could live anywhere. My friends Jamie and Jennie blessed me with 6 american oranges and I am salivating over the smell of the rinds hours after I have eaten one….. You really dont think of simple things like oranges until you live in the jungle where everything is green….oranges, lemons, limes, avacados, mangos, papayas, matoke…but they insist that they dont eat green things …..which they call lettuce. Well, my dear ones, I cant think of anything else this week, so I will let you know about my time in Jinja when I get home. I did finally get my first package from America today! Praise God..it was gum and calendar, calculator, bandages and some index cards (those are like gold around here and I have four colors…) from my mom…thanks mom….I called to thank her and she told me that she has given my blog out to several of her friends in Kansas…so hello to Kansas, hope all is well…..which actually brings up one other item now that I think about it….we were advised this week in our staff meeting about properly greeting others here at New Hope (its also very Ugandan to not just say hello) …..we need to take time and ask about the family, the chickens, pigs etc and really care about each other. Which I totally agree but a few muzungos this week have taken it way out of proportion and its gotten rather out of hand really…LOL Anyway, I do hope all your kin, and chickens,pigs and grandmothers are doing well and thank you for your prayers.

Bless you all,

Desiree

I guess I could be saying something different pretty soon. They say the rainy season is yet to come and its non stop pouring for days! Right now we have been getting afternoon showers and they are heavy and warm and I love them. It cools things off and I love walking in the rain, I have yet to carry an umbrella…you can get totally soaked and then either go home to change or if you are still out when it stops..you dry off. I also like taking a nap when it rains…its like having a giant white noise machine! Its raining right now and I am struggling to stay awake…

Anyway, so many things have happened in just the last 10 days…a week ago Saturday…I was hit by a bota bota in Kiwoko…in case you have not been following along…that is a motorcycle …..thankfully I am fine…a little sore still but still kickin! I went to the market with John, Jenessa and we kidnapped two members of a small team…I was with Helen (Theresa Mizers cousin by the way) and we were crossing the street when bam…I was knocked off my feet and the bota went into the ditch…I was a little shaken up and went into the nearest supermarket to have a seat for a minute. On the way home we piled in the car that John and Jenessa just bought and went about 1/2 mile down the road when it died….they thought they had run out of gas since the gauge doesnt work….but it was already 5:15 and I needed to be serving a meal at the guesthouse by 5:45…so Helen and I jumped out of the car and flagged down a bota bota and went back to New Hope. About 1/2 hour later…Jenessa shows up on a bota bota wanting a gas can and some cash…she takes off….an hour or so later… Dan (other team member) shows up and needs rope to tow the car..it was not gas but the rotors….then they come back about 8:40 at night and said while they were checking out the car, a couple of other cars stopped to help but one of the drivers didnt put it in park and scraped past two other cars and then landed in the ditch. (This is true….talk about the land of adventures) Then the next morning I realized I had lost my phone..when we called it, someone in Luweero had it and wanted to hold it ransom!. After much pleading with a couple other *Mazungu” guys from New Hope…the guy just kept hanging up…so I asked Uncle Simon (Ugandan) to call and it was much more successful…he got the ransom down and agreed to meet the guy in Kiwoko and saved me some money in getting my phone back. Turns out the guy watched me get knocked over by the bota bota and grabbed my phone for ransom….nice huh! The rest of the week flew by as the team from Calvery Chapel left, on Sunday I catered to a group at the Dangers home and another team showed up with 14 people…busy busy time…..

This Saturday, I planted a couple of fields of maize with my Pacific family..all 16 of the older kids and Rokundo went to the fields. It was an incredible process how they marked out the fields with rope tied to a stick and marks on the rope etc…We dug with big hoes and put three seeds and fertilizer in each hole….there was a team of oxen plowing the field next to us. I was there barefoot and enjoying evey bit of the rich earth…then one of the kids started running zig zag and screaming…Tata…papa..mercy something or another…and I realized he was dodging a snake. A couple of the other boys ran and chased it off…I said aren’t you going to kill it?? They laughed and said it was the nice kind, I let them know that I didnt believe any snake was nice. We worked hard for several hours and then it was time for me to go check on the girls in the kitchen preparing lunch…as I walked out of the fields I was on the edge of our property and there was some kids ahead of me on the trail from the near village, they had just fetched water…..when they looked back they took off running..leaving a very little girl behind carrying a small jerry can…she was struggling to carry the water and keep up…so I started running toward her to help carry the water can for her….as I got closer she dropped the can and ran screaming. I thought “Boy that was not nice of those boys to leave her behind”…so I carried the water can further up the trail. I was soon met by an older boy looking for the water can. I tried to explain why I had his can and he laughed….the kids that were running and screaming had not seen a white person before and they were freaked out by me running toward them…..sorry…,

Let’s see….on Tuesday last week I was at the barn getting some paint with Jenessa to paint a family banda…I met a young man that offered to help us so he could earn money for his University fees. We didnt need the help but I thought since paint was only $11 a gallon, I would love him to paint my livingroom, it hasnt been painted in years and its chipping off the concrete walls. I said I would get the paint and some sand paper etc and let him know a good day. On wednesday I got home to find out I had not locked my door so he thought I had left it open for him to paint…..there he was sanding everything with dust all over….I crawled past the mess and got my clothes off the rack (in the livingroom next to bathroom) and threw them on my bed in the next room. When I returned later, it was late and I was tired so I pushed past everything and found a tiny spot to lay down…a rough night. On Thursday afternoon I returned to a full blown mess and the paint fumes were toxic. Then I received a text that Helen was coming to visit me from Kampala (her team left monday but she was staying an extra 2 weeks) and she was on her way….so I panicked and grabbed some clothes and moved into room 5 at the guesthouse..making two beds and preparing for a guest to arrive…..that was five days ago…Helen has come and gone and I am still in exile in room 5 of the guesthouse. He was about a quart short in covering the walls with one coat, however if he had not painted part of the ceiling It probably would have been enough. He didnt seem to think that there was any problem with that. It turns out that Kiwoko and Luweero (the only two near towns) have 5 hardware stores…nobody has another gallon of cream color paint until Tuesday when the truck comes from Kampala. So tommorrow, I am going into Luweero to get vegetables and stopping in Kiwoko to buy another gallon of paint!

I have to mention the vegetable stand…you get 5 or 6 huge avacados for 1,000 shillings (about 50 cents total ) and full super sweet fresh pineapples are less than 50 cents each…..mangos fall off the trees…so today..while in exile without a cooker…I took out my pocket knife and ate an avacado, two mangos, couple tiny bananas and a handful of g-nuts….I was full and satisfied but felt somewhat primal as I scanned the refuge at my feet. I better go dig a hole before the rats come… You can eat fairly cheaply if you eat rice and beans and fruit…however a can of pringles is very expensive. Speaking of rice and beans…I was having dinner with my family the other night and one of them said…Auntie I think you are turning black….I laughed and made reference to the fact that I eat my rice and beans like they do with their hands….but then found out she was referring to the black spot on my neck!! I had finally broke down and colored my hair the other day without a mirror…and that night I had worn my hair up in a bun…..I guess I had a huge black spot on my neck!! LOL…we laughed really hard when I had to explain how I was turning black….this caused 22 kids to start digging through my hair in amazement that the gray was not there….again I had a slight primal feeling of being groomed by my family members…..I am not sure if I am becoming an ape or an african…maybe I need a nap.

Well, I could go on and on but will choose to go bury my peels and take a nap…the current team has gone on safari and I have a little break today…they will be home for dinner tmo and then leave on Friday. We do not have guests in September, so I am trying to figure out where to take my holiday. I am suppose to leave every 6 weeks or so for a break and I have been here since first of June and have not left other than to shop in Kampala for supplies. My plans to go to Victoria falls is not going to happen, so please keep me in prayer about what I am suppose to do. I am not sure where to go, how far or what I can afford but I will be leaving in about 10 days. I will not bring my laptop so I will probably update before I go and then when I get back.

PS…just as I was about to send this at 3:30 this afternoon, my computer ran out of battery and crashed…so I took a nap, took a shower and headed out for a walk to take pictures…on the trail I ran into Josh headed out of bounds..so I asked him where he was headed and he invited me to follow. We walked about 15 minutes out into the bush on a trail, it was amazingly beautiful and we came into property that Uncle Sam owns where he is milking two cows and raising chickens, clearing land and making coal…quite industrious…I got to see a calf that was just 8 days old and we were there till the sun was setting and then we walked back. Power came back on with the generator tonight so I had a chance to get back on and send this…see another adventure yet today!

God Bless you all..I love to hear from you either by comments on my blog or you can send me a personal email at desiree@desired2b.com — until next time!

Desiree’

Hello …I am having a bit of a rough night. Today at church they announced the beginning of a week of community prayer. We are to meet at the water tower at 5:30 am each morning to pray, and there are also scheduled prayer times throughout the day. Wow, I was totally excited, being a prayer warrior without a prayer partner in my country…well, I am just excited to be praying wth someone this week. Anyway, I went to bed early…in anticipation of getting up….however, I got up a bit ago (to go to the latrine…which is not so close) and then I crawled back in bed and tucked my mosquito net in…to snuggle up for the night. Thats when I heard a creature somewhere in my room…I think something came in while I was out….So I bravely got out of bed…grabbed a light and began searching my room,…first I found my can of Doom, just in case. After kicking everything I could see and finding nothing…I picked up some stuff and taped up two boxes…in case it was in there. 40 minutes later…silence…so I got back in bed…tucked in my mosquito net….anyway, just as I started to relax…it started scratching again. I am thinking its bigger than a mosquito… Again, I got up…finished off the can of Doom, and got back in bed…well, its now 12:30am and I cant sleep….and its still in here…scratching…keeping me awake…so I decided to update my blog….I keep my computer in my bed…for a time such as this…I knew one day I would be held captive and it has now happened…at least until daybreak. I do feel better now that someone knows my plight. So please pray that I get some rest and make it to the tower…

Let’s see, this week was moving week for the Brittons…they built a great four bedroom two bath home with a wrap around porch. A bunch of people met at their old house and hand carried everything they owned across the way to the new house. There was a couple of van loads, but most was just a migration of people with stuff. Then Caleb and Alair moved into the Brittons old location and picked up their furniture from my house…then I picked up my furniture from the guesthouse…so we all finally got settled in this week. I have a bunch more room since I have very little furniture of my own but I love it and have all that I need. Man power is used for everything, I went to Kampala and had a ton of goceries to unload, so we pulled into a family section, got all the boys up and they crawled on top of the van and rode to the guesthouse…within minutes we were unloaded with the help of 8 or so young boys. Dont you wish moving was that easy in America?? I know I have so much stuff even after moving and downsizing before I came, I am laying here thinking why do I have so much stuff??? Life is definetly simpler here and it tends to leave your mind uncluttered and I am enjoying that aspect. Now I have more time to think about survival….and bugs….oh and prayer…

I really love meeting all the new people on the teams. Hearing how they came to New Hope and the testimonies of what God is doing in their lives. This week I have only four people from California, two that have been here before. One of the ladies on the team is a cousin of Theresa Mizer!! And I just found out that during Envisioning week in January, I may have the opportunity to host Elaine Yi as she has been invited from Kenya, isnt it a small world?? Cynthia and Kyon Yi were members of MSC before moving away. Gary Wood will also be here for Envisioning week from N.Dakota. I have no teams in September if you care to vacation in Uganda give me a ring…

I really am amazed at the creation here…first of all we are almost at the equator…which means we have 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night….I just found that out myself and was fascinated. I am totally not sure what direction is where but lets just call it North…the sun comes up in the North but the sun sets in the west…its like it never fully crosses the sky or something, I cant really explain it but its crazy. The sun gets a bright red in the evening, its really spectacular. The moon is also very awesome and its often straight over my house it seems….you can see a bizzilian stars and our night sky shows the Milky Way and the Spanish Cross, which you cant see in your hemisphere. Wow, I am a long way from home! I do spend more time looking up now that I know snakes are in the trees (see last blog)….Which reminds me…all caterpillars in Uganda are poisonous….interesting huh?? And they have Driver ants that look like a black path when you run into them. There are also flying ant and biting ants….the other day there was about 15 kids out the back door of the guesthouse kitchen. All screaming and jumping around…some throwing buckets of ash…when I went to check out what was going on…one kid “risked his life” running to keep me inside…I almost had stepped into the path of biting ants!! Thankfully I was spared.

We are now having a dry season and everyone is getting their fields ready for the next planting season coming up. Wilson is my compound worker and he tilled my garden this week and planted some of the seeds I brought. He is very excited to have a piece of land to harvest and I am thrilled to have a garden and a gardener! Wilson is a boy from my Pacific family and he is starting to save money for university. He is a great kid amd I often will feed him breakfast on Saturdays when I get to stay home later. He had his first cup of hot chocolate with me this weekend and he really loved it. But he wasnt so sure about the fried potatos but he did eat them. I have also found a good houseworker, her name is Irene, she is just 19 with two children and lives in a nearby village. Her husband is the head of our security guards at New Hope and I went to their home last weekend for dinner after church. Most of the homes outside of New Hope are made with sticks and mud with thatched roofs, usually only one or two rooms…usually mud floors….outside kitchens are just a grass/mud shelter and a fire pit. The ones that are better off may be made of concrete for the main structure. There are also huge mansions with gates, walls, acres of land etc in some parts. It seems that 1/4 may be very wealthy with everyone else living in poverty…you don’t see much “middle” class outside of us muzungas.

Did you know that when a Ugandan says “I am coming”…it means they are leaving….figure that one out? And sorry is the most common phrase…they use it to say they are sharing in your frustration, sympathy, headache, loss etc…not that they are at all involved in whatever is ailing you but they will say “sorry” to anything unpleasantly said. “I forgot my keys” …sorry…I have a headache….I am going to Kampala…I didnt sleep well…all get a “sorry” response. I think I will be sorry by morning for not sleeping! But it has now been silent for a while…so at least I should try to sleep, its 2am.

Goodnight and blessings to you all, God is good and faithful and just. He alone is enough, He hears our cries, He sees our lives, and He knows our heart. Do not fear, for He goes before us and walks with us. Be encouraged my friends and family, you are in my prayers to our Father who is in heaven,

Desiree’
XOXOXOXO

Dear family and friends,

First let me greet you and welcome you in the traditional Ugandan fashion. It is almost required upon doing any business transaction or socializing in any length of time to first have many pleasantries passed before actually saying how are you etc…. I am not so good at this especially in business…yesterday my girlfriend Jenessa and I went to Kampala on a pleasure trip…meaning I was on personal business…went to lunch (great Indian food here) and had a great time. In the process, I needed to purchase a printer for my laptop. Can you imagine…12-15 computer stores smashed in between hardware, electronics and a variety of other businesses. You can’t just walk in and say excuse me, how much for that HP printer or that one there….it is a song and dance at each location. Oleoltio sebo, …..belungee, belungee. Weebalee emirimu…calle. Nze Jenessa, mbeera Ksana, nkola New Hope Uganda, far away in the village..this is my friend senga Desiree’…(hellos….introductions….where we live and work….) all very slowly like we have all afternoon….nodding, smiling…then…what are you asking for this….and then another 10 minutes of bartering about mzunga prices etc….and so you go down the street…..if you come back to the store finding they were the better price…you start all over and never get back to the best deal…it as a process and we americans have little patience for this kind of shopping…especially on a personal day..dodging traffic as you cross the street. Pedestrians have no right of way..in fact I think you become target practice for most vehicles…they actually speed up to see if they can catch you..it’s crazy. I was successful at my 5th shop or so and it will make my life much easier in scheduling workers and making new menus for the teams…and then printing them!!

So, let’s talk Matooke…I had mentioned they are in the banana family and they are very green and we peel them, steam them and eat them at many meals….last week I had bought a “bunch” which is an entire arm off a tree..with about 15-20 hands (what we call bunches) Within 2 days it started turning yellow and all the girls in the kitchen were quite upset..it was spoiling so fast. They warned that now we would have to cook it today or it would be all bad. So we did except for a few bunches that I was going to bake with. Come to find out the next day it was really yellow and I was peeling and mashing when I decided to take a bite…..and oh my gosh…it was a banana!!! Just like home!!! After freaking out about my discovery and talking to Nancy…she corrected me and said…oh you must have bought a D7 hybred…translation….someone came to the country and cross bred our “bananas” with the matooke plant and so we have this hybred that is shunned in most families, because it is not matooke and not bananas…who knew? LOL

Well, I have to also tell you about my latest adventure! Last week a notice showed up at the admin building bulletin board stating “All staff, children etc were to report to the Enterprise fields on Tuesday 8am sharp to help with harvesting the maize. Mandatory…Bring water, nails and knives.” I was so excited…I rode a boda to the hardware store in Kiwoko and bought bag of big nails and pulled out my work gloves…ready for the day. On Tuesday morning, Fred, Rukundo and I started walking to the fields together (about 20 minutes) about half way there some boys passed on bikes and Rukundo asked them to give us a lift. So we all got on the back of the bikes, I was sitting side saddle of course in my skirt. We had not gone very far when my boy went past the other two..I thought ohh he is showing off….then we started going faster and faster…I was hanging on about to be bounced of when I let him know I was concerned…please stop or slow down…but no response…so I am thinking surely he knows I am frightened even if he doesnt speak english…but we kept going faster down hill. That was when I noticed that he as not pedaling but took a quick look back at me and he too looked a little scared….ohhhh…WE HAVE NO BRAKES…my concern turned to asking God to spare us as I hung on for dear life. When we turned the last bend, I could see the maize fields and bunches of people getting ready to harvest…someone screamed ( I really dont know who..but it could have been me) and the crowd split like the red sea. The look of shock on the few that I did see..made me a little more concerned. We then passed the acres of maize fields and headed to the bottom of the hill…again not knowing how we were going to stop until he finally left the road and the fresh maize stalks started crashing and we catapolted off the bike and came to land half buried in the fresh earth. I immediately grabbed my water bottle to wash the dirt out of my eye and mouth and I was spitting blood…drenching myself…I think a knee was actually showing…oh, my…it was quite a scene. Fred and Rukundo came running down the hill and helped pick the debris out of my eye. I was thankful that the 30 nails in my backpack had not impaled me and I was able to walk away. The young man that was driving had dissappeared by the time I could see anything. I even helped harvest but was quite sore in my left hand and my right eye was almost swollen shut by the end. (by the way you only need one nail or a knife to harvest maize..not a sackful) LOL Uncle Jeff later told me one of his students came to him and said…I think I am in big trouble…Jeff said, Why what has happened…..the boy says…. I have crashed my auntie…we laughed hard about that!! I said.. did you ask him why we went all the way to the end of the road, instead of crashing at the top of the last hill……He said yes, I actually did. The boy said he wanted to take me to the “softer” green maize at the bottom…obviously not thinking abnout the momentum we picked up traveling to the bottom of the hill. I do commend the boy…he kept us upright for a long time and we were totally out of control most of the way. I did go to the clinic later that night and got some pain medication, woke up feeling much worse than the previous day and my left hand is just now recovering. My eye has stopped weeping and the swelling has gone down. The boys now think I am pretty tough. So long story short..pray for All travel mercies, on foot, bike, boda and by car…it is a dangerous place here.

Lastly, my friend Jenessa text me the other day…come quick..snake… So I had to run down to see it. Well, it was only aout 12 inches and very small…a little disappointing actually…but it was identified as a black mumba. The fastest, most deadliest snake on earth! Then I find out, she had a little six inch one last month.. and found a large shed on her property. Translation…we think she has a nest of black mumbas!! Yikes….I may not be so good of a friend, I now only travel there in the day! All this talk about snakes, finally hit the shop where her husband John works and then I find out that Uncle Robert (my neighbor) has seen a 8-10 ft black mumba snake twice just across the path from our homes. That is the path I take my refuge to the incinerator….that my houseworker now does….its ok…call me chicken…I do pray for her everyday that she takes my trash….and I am sure she would handle it much better. When I found out how big it was, at first I thought…well, I would see that coming…its ok…then I found out they like to hide in trees and drop down on their prey…I decided give my houseworker a raise…..

Well, I hope you stay tuned, I have asked my brother to send me the CD I need to download pictures which would enhance my tales….but I hope I can keep you entertained until then! I found out mail only takes 2-3 weeks now and 1 out of 3 actually arrive…so pray it comes safely! I miss you all and really appreciate your prayers, your support and your emails, comments and facebooks! I am definetly living life to the fullest these days!

God Bless,

Desiree’