Week 3 (Saturday, Sept 20/Monday, Sept 22)

The team, from left to right: Chris, Nancy, Bern, Steph, me, Julia, Geoff, Naomi, Rosalind, Andrea, Mike, Jaquelyn, and Valdine.

So we had a pretty awesome jam session, in English, after the normal worship ended last night. Most of you already know that music isn't exactly my fortè, but at camp, I've taken to playing the drum that the Ugandan crew uses during worship (it's similar to the jembè except bigger, and you can play it with sticks as well as hands). Anyway, it was a great time worshiping and I guess, bonding with the other interns because most of us were away from camp for periods of the past week, and in general, we don't see a lot of each other during the day as we are usually traveling and working at different sites. And while I really enjoy the Ugandan worship and learning to sing songs in Ryankole, it isn't the same as worship in English. A part of me couldn't help but wish that I was back in Kingston worshipping and fellowshipping with many of you.

So a prayer request would be that we would be able to continue to grow spiritually even without the fellowship and church environment and support that most of us are used to. It's something that I've talked a bit about with a couple of the other interns and while I think that it is definitely harder without having a church service to go to or a fellowship to attend; ultimately, this time will really be an opportunity for us to spend more time reading straight from God's word and allowing Him to speak to us without the same distractions that we often experience back home.

This past weekend was a bit slower than our last one, where we setup a zipline (the first time the Ugandan crew had seen one and they enjoyed that a lot) and played a long match of football (or soccer, as I'm more used to saying) with a bunch of the kids in the community. September marks the start of the rainy season and it has not disappointed, I could almost read by the light from the lightning last night, which lasted most of the evening. Friday was Steph's birthday, and we went all out... on creativity anyway.... Mike made guacamole and Nancy made Hummas which we had with chippati's that Enid, our awesome camp cook, made. We also had a very North American style campfire, with roasted bananas and chocolate instead of smores, and made honey roasted g-nuts (as far as we can tell, they're exactly like peanuts).

Oh, I finally have internet because the roving team (me, mike, and Asaph) went to check out a source for a possible project and it was far enough away that we could not make it back to camp before sundown. Many of the roads here, especially the "highway" between Mbrarara and our camp, are harzardous enough during the day with full visibility. Thus, we don't drive on any main roads past sundown. Add that to the fact that spending a night in Mbarara means internet, a warm shower, and some options for food, and you can understand why Mike and I weren't exactly disappointed that we didn't make it home tonight.