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