The Queen has come and Turkey was eaten.

(another very long update, sorry. Sometimes I am busy, sometimes I am processing, most the time power is not there or internet is acting funny- thanks for bearing with me and thanks for being a part of my life although I am half a world away)

That is right. The Queen of England has come and gone for the 2007 CHOGM meeting here in Uganda. It was the much awaited event for the past 2 years. Kampala (the capital) has been receiving improvements in the masses to be the host for all the 54 Common Wealth Heads of State from all over the world. Although not directly affected by this event, seeing as I did not get to meet the queen or benefit from the repairs and improvements because Mbale s 4 hours from Kampala… it was fun to get to watch the Queen’s arrival on TV and see all the traditional dancing and singing that was presented by various groups representing various areas of the country. And we did have a 2 day- National holiday. So that made for a long weekend. It was also funny to walk around town because people would greet, “Hello, CHOGM!” or “CHOGM, we go?” from the bicycle men.

Also, CHOGM allowed for Thanksgiving day to be a holiday for me. As I woke up Thursday morning I had no intentions to try to make a Thanksgiving meal. I had already counted the mouth-watering feast as loss (Dad, I miss your cooking). But I mentioned to Mama that today was thanksgiving and she said, “Good. We shall have the meal.” Conveniently, we had two live turkeys in our courtyard that had been given as gifts to Pastor and Mama. So, Thanksgiving began with the slaughtering and plucking of a turkey (I did not do it myself but I did watch with a slightly disgusted face). I planned the menu, went shopping at the market, and began to prepare the Ogenga family’s first Thanksgiving meal. I was a little worried because :
1. Dad always plans the menu about 3 months in advance, does the shopping 2 weeks in advance, and starts the turkey and stuffing at least 2 days before. So I wasn’t sure that I could pull everything together in 6 hours.
2. Power is never reliable. Although you might have power for a week, it always seems that just when you really need it, it will check. And seeing as I had a turkey to cook in the oven, I needed power to remain.

Well, sure enough power did check. So after brainstorming with Mama we decided to wrap the turkey in banana leaves and cook it on a charcoal stove the traditional way. Things are looking good. Until we were cleaning out the charcoal stove and found a mouse in it. Ha. I have never seen Mama screech and run so fast. So, I hear from a little hole in the door, “Pour the paraffin and get the matches.” Sure enough, that little mouse did not make it. So just as we are about to put the turkey, all wrapped up in banana leaves, onto the stove, the power returns. So, with some counsel we unwrap the leaves and put the turkey in the oven. The banana bread was already placed in the dutch oven (a first time experiment, since they had just arrived at the house that day), but unfortunately it burned on the bottom. So, the turkey had some time in the oven, but with an hour remaining to cook, power checked again. Boo! At this point I wasn’t sure what to do because my fears is people getting sick from undercooked meat… so what of my thanksgiving turkey now? And it is not as if we could go without the turkey, especially seeing as most meals in Uganda are served with rice, matoke, and a soup of some sort to pour over and my Thanksgiving meal included NONE of the above. The option of putting the turkey in the pressure cooker remained, but as Mama started cutting the bird, she kept saying, “well, let me taste just one more piece to make sure, sure that it is cooked.” Therefore meaning that it was fine.

It seemed as though the family enjoyed, but from my opinion, having never prepared a Thanksgiving meal myself, it was pretty good. And I was thankful that it all came together and that the meat was cooked.

Here is another random story… Friday night we were playing a game in my room and I hear Mama come to my door and say, “Uh oh, I am in big trouble.” Well, I wasn’t really sure what to think because of all people I am probably the least experienced in any sort of trouble or solution to trouble that could be happening to a Ugandan woman. She continued to explain that she had come from a birthday party for the son of a certain Indian family-friend. The father had personally come to the house to invite Pastor and Mama. But as they arrived to the party, the host asked where the rest of the family was? Apparently this Indian man specifically wanted Pastor, Mama, Glenn, and me to be a guest at the party and requested that Mama come pick up me and Glenn before they would start the party. I think the man saw me in my room the day that he came to personally invite Pastor. So, quickly we got ready and went to the party. Dinner began around 9:30pm and since my tongue has been de-sensitized to spicy foods, the food they served definitely made my lips tingle. The children danced and then played 5 rounds of musical chairs. All in all, I have never been a requested guest at a party, especially to a total stranger.

Daily I have WOW moments (Worthy of Worship), but one moment that was so sweet to my heart was last Friday. In teaching phonics I am basically a tutor for the slower learners in each of the grade levels. So, I was working with 2 boys in P4 who, being realistic cannot read or write at all, due to their backgrounds. We were working of the first 5 most common letters in the alphabet, learning their name, sound, how to write them, and then beginning to hear each of the letter’s sound in a word like “bat”. These boys are bright and were picking things up quickly. At the end of the lesson I gave them a word to spell, thinking that they probably would not be able to decode the word yet. But, to my great surprise, the slowest of the 2 learners was using the exact methods I had taught him to hear each sound in the word. You could see him using his fingers, hearing the sound, and then thinking through what letter makes that sound. I cannot tell you what great joy it brought to my heart. I know that in serving the Lord you don’t always get to see the fruit of your labor but it was such a sweet blessing to instantaneously see the results of what God is using me for. I praise Him for that.

Holidays are here for the girls at home and closely approaching for the children at LCH. God has impressed on my heart the desire to disciple some of the teenage girls in my house and at the church. Please pray for this. Pray for wisdom as to what to teach. Pray for clarity in purpose, vision, understanding for me and the girls. Pray that they would be excited and committed to grow in the Lord as we live life together and study the Word. Pray that cultural barriers would be broken down and pray that they would be open to possibly “new” ways of me doing things or “new” questions that bring out heart issues. Praise God for the refreshment that comes in the Word. This morning I was reading in 2 Peter 1:1-21 and it is very focused as to what I want from this discipleship. Peter is writing to believers, who are already following Christ, but only encouraging them more that we have been given everything we need for life and godliness (1:3) and that there are things to grow in… faith producing moral excellence, producing a better knowledge of God, producing self control, producing patient endurance, producing godliness, producing brotherly love, producing genuine love for everyone (1:6-7). And “the more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:8). And that is my heart… that the knowledge we have would not remain simply knowledge but that we would individually and together be productive and useful in your knowledge of Jesus.

Also pray for the children as they are in holidays and school is not occupying them. Pray for their safety around the compound as 70 children are playing.

These kids are my delight and my joy everyday. It is so incredible to have seen the new kids 24 hours after they arrived at LCH and to see them now. God is moving, healing, building, bringing hope, spreading love, and restoring joy. Wow. These kids are so sweet and full of life. They are eager to learn and eager to love. It is my greatest honor that the Lord would place me here and use me to impact the life of these kids. And it is an honor to be impacted and taught by them in return.