Chattanooga

A lot of people have seen my love for Chattanooga over the years. I love the time I've got to spend there. While the city is very cool, and I have a love I can't quite understand it's also the people I've met there and know there who make it what it is. The Covenant College crowd never ceases to amaze me, genuine people with a love for God and his people.

My time spent this past week was with my cousins, mostly. Who live 25 minutes from Chattanooga.
We spent the time talking about the farm/garden they have and what people are looking at for their future. My Uncle Tim doesn't see being able to make a living simply from the farm and can't put in the hours for it therefore, but is happy for someone to make a CSA out of it and make a little money from it. (If people paid the real price of food it would go up 50-70%! Seriously!)

My cousin Jether and I have had this dream for years, a dream of working land together and growing food for ourselves and others. It might just be coming true. While I don't expect it to be the main source of my income, for 2016 I presume to be putting most of my hours towards it. I'm still young, and don't mind working hard right now, either.

While I'm not super tech savvy, and can't do a whole lot with putting together a website I've got social networking skills, and know how to work social media and other things such as taking photos and getting them uploaded. I helped redo some of the facebook page while I was there, as well as write up a CSA brochure that we'll hand out to customers who are interested. I did online research and rewrote a CSA contract for us to use with all our CSA customers.

A quick review of what a CSA is for those who don't know. It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically at the beginning of the year the customer pays x amount of money for x amount of vegetables each week. The farmer says he'll do whatever he can to make that amount each week of produce, but things happen. That's where Community Supported comes into play. The customer says I'm willing to support my local farmer who is underpayed (very few farmers are payed what they're worth) and give him the money up front and hope to get vegetables for this year. It's a way of reconnecting or maybe connecting people to the land for the first time. It's building relationships with the people growing your food and is a great for educating people on farming. It also opens the door for other things tied in with a CSA, such as Farm to Table dinners and other events on the farm.

The plan is to do 10 CSA shares next year, and the hope to grow about 15 shares worth of food. Our first goal in having the farm was to provide for ourselves first, and then to others. We don't want to sacrifice our own food to feed others, we don't see that as beneficial or productive to the system. We will do two CSA's. One from May-July and another from August-October. Throughout the growing season we expect to do cooking classes for people to learn ways to cook with the food they're getting. We'll throw Farm to Table dinners which is another easy way to get a little more income, as well as just being plain fun. The opportunities are endless with Natural Ways Homestead. The only downside is the fact that of the 89 acres they live on, only a couple are cleared for pasture or garden. But we have so many resources at our finger tips. It's exciting just thinking about it.

I'll be moving out in March to start working. At that point it will mostly be greenhouse starting seeds and mulching areas of the garden and working on systems to get the CSA in place.

I'm excited to see where this adventure will take me. Taking it one year at a time.


English Vintner

Be Still and Know that I AM God

Be still and know that I Am God.

I think this past year has been one of coming to a resting place with God and where I am in life. But before I can talk about this past year I think I need to talk about the previous year.

A year ago I was finishing up my second round of vaccinations in order to go to Karamoja, Uganda to work with the Orthodox Presbyterian Mission. But let me back up to a year before that, January 2013.

 I found out about a ministry in Charlotte, One7 that brings kids into their soccer club program and provides housing for immigrants and needs for the needy. They needed guys to come and hangout with the kids as well as serve as a small group leader on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I got hooked on it, I loved serving in a way I hadn’t yet been able to do my whole life. I was starting to understand what I thought the way I should be living my life, one of servitude to those who are in greatest need spiritually and physically. I went once or twice every week consistently from April to June and quickly got to know the kids and loved being there. It just felt so, right. 

In mid June I got a call from Isaiah, my brother who was at the Boardwalk Chapel Ministry in New Jersey. They were short on staff for the Summer and asked if I wanted to come. So without any money for the trip and without waiting to get a recommendation from my Pastor at the time, I said yes. I’d just read where Jesus is walking by the sea and sees Peter and calls to him “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” . God was teaching me to be spontaneous, asking me if I would trust Him even when I can’t see around the bend.

I spent the Summer learning a lot about evangelizing, playing music, and having conversations about Jesus with random people on the boardwalk and seeing some of them come to Jesus! 

Before I came home I’d already signed up to be part of a team doing a Water Project in Honduras. I wanted to go for several reasons. My cousins, who I am very close to had lived in Honduras for several years. Besides that, two of them were going on the trip. 

In November we left and spent a full week in a remote village working along side the people digging trenches for the piping and getting to experience what life is like without electricity, running water, or much of anything else. It was a humbling experience and got me to ask a lot of questions about my theology and what I believed and thought about living a ‘Christian Life’.

Before I left for the trip I sent in my application to the Uganda Mission board to see if they would accept me and let me ‘visit’ for 3 months doing diaconal work, namely working on construction projects. 

Before Christmas I got the ‘yes’ I needed and planned for going. Crazy things happened around that time and I almost didn’t end up going. But God came through and I put my last penny to the trip and left on a plane to spend 90 days in Uganda. 

Right before the trip that I’d read Shane Claiborne’s book The Irresistible Revolution which turned my world on end and got me to ask a hundred questions about everything I thought I’d believed. 

My time in Uganda was very sweet. Many moments of missing home and other comforts, like a laptop or even music on an ipod, but it was overall very good. I got a lot of life experience living there and learned a lot of skills with concrete and metal.

I got home from Uganda unsure of what was next. I’d spent the last year and a half going going going. I hadn’t taken a deep breath yet. I took a week off before going back to restaurant work, which was probably the smartest thing I ever did. (Jet lag didn’t hit me until I had been in the States for over a week!)

In the past three years I’d been to Peru twice, Honduras, Uganda and had spent a Summer volunteering at the Boardwalk in New Jersey. What was next, Eastern Europe? 

But as I settled into life I realized God was telling me to slow down. I’d spent the last year and a half going all around the world learning and seeing so much, and now He wanted me to sit down and take it easy. I felt guilty not jumping back into One7 and not having as much energy for other serving opportunities, I wasn’t sure what was going on. I finally realized I had not rested for a long time and I needed to regain my energy. Take a breath before I pass out and really can’t do anything.

Here I am. Remembering a year ago getting ready to go to Uganda, the adventurous part of me wants to do it again. 

I want to talk about some small things in my life that in some ways are big. I feel like the year 21 for me is going to be in some ways a starting point for something big. I expanded my coffee business, selling at a local Farmers Market. I built a pyramid, I got a wood stove, have a chicken coop and 12 chickens. I’ve spent the last 8 years yearning to be able to do or have these things and now they have COME TRUE! I see this year as having a lot of potential.

In November I started going to a church with my brother and sister-in-law Josiah and Jo. The church was in so many ways an answer to prayer. I’d been looking for more in my walk with God and wanted a way to learn it. The Pastor is very spirit led and down to earth. I am always amazed how much power his words have. His relationship with God is amazing to see and inspiring. Last week I was asked to join the worship team and I readily agreed. I will be on acoustic guitar or electric, as well as some vocals and drums. 

What’s next for me? I don’t know. I think God has me here for maybe a year and then He’s moving me to Chattanooga; another dream that would come true. My best friend and cousin Jether is starting a farm with his family. I plan on joining them next year if things go as planned. If I do I would move down there and try to continue my coffee business there as I see potential. It will be a bittersweet time I think, moving away from my siblings and family here, but also being able to live with/near my family there in Chattanooga.

I am seeking to follow God and do what He wants me to do. I am working at putting ministry into a daily activity, like breathing. I want servitude to be so much apart of who I am that you can’t separate it from me. I want Jesus’ love to be seen through me. I’ve got a long way to go, but this is my prayer.

Still Moments

The rain drops splattered all around, glistening with the last rays of the sun, surprising the already bent grass into the ground. Something about it was soothing. The gentle rhythm of drip drop, drip drop drop, drip drop, drip drop drop. Beside me lies a 110lb goat, silky black hair with white spots. Her personality was type-A, out-going and friendly, not afraid to show me affection, licking my legs, arms and face. I drew again on my hand rolled cigarette, held it for a moment in my mouth, and exhaled letting the sweet smell of pipe tobacco fill the small enclosure of the lean-two. I didn’t feel a rush of nicotine, that wasn’t why I did it. It’s like a cup of joe in the evening after a long day of working, it’s not about the caffeine for me, it’s about the flavor. If I wanted caffeine I could stop by Starbucks and pick up a cup of joe, or get a pound of Maxwell for $2.99 from the store. It’s not about the caffeine, it’s about the flavor, the little that the caffeine does for me I enjoy, but it’s more of a side note or benefit than anything else.

It’s like a glass of Cabernet after a dinner, the rush of flavors wash over my mouth, I can smell and taste the oak that the wine was aged in, the long hours spent picking the grapes by hand, fermenting it in large vats, and eventually aged in a bottle for who knows how long. It’s not about the alcohol, if it was I would’ve gone for the vodka, cheap and gets the job done faster than a six pack or a bottle of wine. It’s not about the nicotine, it’s about the flavor, it’s about the smell, getting away for a ‘breath of fresh air’. 

I sat there, rain steadily petering out as the sun faded into the west. I felt peace, I felt calm. It’s the still moments you remember. You don’t remember running to the store to get the jug of milk before they close at 10pm, you don’t remember driving to your wedding day celebration at the church at noon. You remember the event that happened, not what got you there. You remember the still moments, searching the shelf for the best price for milk, standing there while you hardly hear the preacher pronounce you man and wife. You remember the still moments in life, the quiet times. 

It’s the walk in the woods with no one around. The birds chirping from their trees, wind rustling the leaves, rocks slowly growing lichen on their ever greening skin. Ferns clumped by the base of a small cedar, the slight drop off at the edge of the boulders. It’s the stillness in life that we remember, it’s the stillness in life that we need.

English Vintner

Busy? Nah. . .

Sometimes I feel like I’m busy. I am a go getter in a lot of ways. You could liken me to one of those super Moms who works part time, runs around and cleans up the house, runs a side business and still has time to spend time with her kids. Except, I’m not a Mom, and I don’t have kids. I’m a 20 year old who’s not sure what’s going on, but I’m working 18+ hours a week at a restaurant (where we get slammed with 75+ people for lunch everyday!), one day a week (8-10hrs) working a bread route with my Dad, and starting a coffee roasting business selling at an early morning Saturday Farmers Market. 

When I’m not working for pay I’m running around the house tidying up the mess I may or may not have made because, I’m a little OCD about a messy house and I like the peace of a clean one, which is what I strive for.

You might find me planting seeds for a Fall Garden and figuring out how to keep the deer out of my garden without any electricity access. IE Using old tomato twine and orange construction netting to hinder those beastly creatures from gorging themselves on my tender shoots.

When I’m tired of gardening but still like sweating out-doors I might be seen running around like a maniac, throwing huge stones into a wheel barrow to landscape my patio project in the woods. Mixing up cement to throw together a wine bottle wall topped with a poured cement slab with tile to make a bench retaining wall.

I get up 6am three days a week to go to work at Stone Table Cafe. The one day I work with my dad we get up at 4am. On Saturdays I get up at 5:30am to prepare for Farmers Market, and on Sunday I get up at 7am to throw the sticky buns in the oven for breakfast. If you’re doing the math that leaves me with one more day out of the week. And because I love early mornings I often get up on my one day off because I like to enjoy my early mornings with peace, quiet, and coffee. 

Sleep? Who needs that anyway? I mean if you’re running a coffee roasting business you’re bound to have surplus coffee, which means a higher caffeine intake which substitutes for less sleep, right?

In other words, my life is never boring. 

I have to find time to make peace and quiet in my life. And, even though I’m somewhat introverted I love the loudness of a busy house, the constant busyness that I’m in. I work best under it. I’m glad I make time to write music and play guitar because those moments are often the few moments out of the day where I sit down and reflect and think. 

I have my hands in too many things, but I’m too afraid to pull them out. I’m like the monkey with his hands full of nuts in the bottle; my hands are stuffed and I can’t escape.

No, I love my life. I really do. I am making by with the income I have (by that I mean I’m a couple grand in the hole LOL), I still have time to make music, write songs, and do art. And every once in a while play a long game of Catan with my brothers!

English Vintner

Leaving

It's been three months. I really can't believe it, I can't quite grasp the reality that three months ago I was sitting in my living room wondering if my canceled flights would be ressurected so I could fly the following morning. It feels like yesterday, it really does. I think the older you get the faster time flies.

I came here with much different expectations than what happened or what I was doing. I came here expecting to be in a tight community of believers with a unified focus on what they were doing and good personal accountability. What I found was a bit different. I didn't feel like the community was tight, and sometimes it was hard to tell what the focus was, and because the community didn't feel really tight there was not any real personal accountabilty for me. Now I know things were different, more than half the mission was on furlough and there were spouses in other parts of the country so I can base my experience on what the mission is doing, and I'm not trying to. I'm not here to tell you how bad my experience was in Uganda, but how different it was. There is great work happening in Karamoja, but it took a while for me to see it and realize it, along with the difference of work I would be doing.

The mission is doing great work with teaching teachers and starting schools in Karamoja. There is good diaconal work being done and there are a lot of exciting oppurtunities that the mission has. I worked mostly on a construction project the entire time, learning skills that pertain to construction in a third world country. Eight years ago I helped finish our log house and learned a lot of skills from cutting wood to wood construction, but that is far different than construction in a third world country. Termites are inevitable here and so the use of wood in construction is minimal to non-existent. For sure the basic skills I learned of construction were very handy, but the specifics didn't cross over. I learned welding (I'm no expert, but I can do a strong weld with stick rods), metal cutting (had a near accident with a grinder when it flew out of my hands and cut through my pants, almost giving me a serious injury), stone masonry and brick masonry, mixing concrete (I did a LOT of that), making forms and pouring concrete, plastering, basic engine repair and trouble shooting, and I even got to help start the hanging of the metal roof before I left. All this was under the oversight of Bob Wright, though most of the time I worked with three Ugandan brothers who work for him on the mission.

I also went deeper in my personal devotions. I didn't bring my laptop, and internet was limited for those who did have internet, thus my intereaction on line was limited to once a week or so (and the last four weeks in Karamoja I didn't get on at all), I did have a phone for in country and made good use of that. I probably spent more money on airtime than I should've, but when your only communication is a phone, you start to use it. :) I did a lot of reading. I brought four or five books with me and got two or three more from Londa, I read all of them in the first 6 weeks of being here. I also had a goal to get through my entire Bible during my time here (I ended up being able to do it in 75 days) which I did. During the end of my time when I'd read anything that looked interesting I decided to read Harry Potter, a series of books I was interested in reading, but never had the time at home. I knew my only time to read them would be here. I read through it all in a week, which meant more than a couple nights of staying up till 2am and getting up at 7am. But because of my limited amount of distractions I had a lot of time to myself. I used the time to further my devotions in reading God's Word and praying a lot, as well as other reading and guitar playing. I greatly improved my guitar playing here, thanks to many hours of playing and a few hints and tips from people here who are really good.

I thought I would have a lot more interaction with people, but in Karamoja because it's so remote and the work I was doing, I really didn't get out much. God's schedule for me here was to focus on practical skills I can use to bless others where ever I am, but especially on the mission field, and personal devotion time. It's not what I was expecting, but I'm so grateful for what God has done.

I like Uganda I really do. It was hard not being able to speak the native tongue, but most people are decent with English (if I knew as much of their native language as they knew English I'd be more than impressed with myself!). I enjoyed getting to know the people at the mission I worked with and was blessed by the sermons and worship on Sundays and the Bible Studies during the week. I rode down with Bob to Jinja where I was staying a week before leaving the country and thought it was a great way to end my time here, since I came here to work with Bob. He said he was impressed with my relational skills, my ability to work well with my hands, and that anything I put my mind to do I would do well at. He said anytime I want to come back I'm welcome to come work for him. It was a very encouraging time and I really like Bob and his family.

I spent the last week here in Jinja very much enjoying myself. I stayed at Street Child Project where my sister Londa is working with her friend Elena. In the mornings I spent with Londa, shopping for a few gifts for family and friends, walking around downtown Jinja, and using the internet and getting coffee at cafes. In the afternoons and evenings it's been with the boys at Street Child. They range from 8-18, and have been a blast to get to know and hang out with. We played guitar and sang songs, painted, drove around in the van, and just enjoyed being around them. We took them to Amani Baby Cottage and I got to see the children there again. It's been a good way to end my time in Uganda.

English Vintner

The Masterpiece We're Living

Life always seems to be so up and down, why does it do that to you? Why does it show you one thing and do another? Unpredictable. We can cure cancer and can land on Mars but we still haven’t figured out how to predict the future. We think we’re so smart, so capable of anything.

Why is life so confusing? So many ropes tugging at you, pulling you in every direction. Which one to take? The road is dividing before my eyes. Why make plans anyway, there is no way to be certain of anything. The only thing certain is uncertainty. Is there more to life than this. 

Is there a limit to the limitless? A stirring for the restless. Something deeper here. Can one fathom the unfathomable of life? Is there an artist for this canvas? An author for this story? A director for this play?

If we are the spot on the canvas, the character in the story, the actor for this play than shouldn’t we live like we are? If we know the director of this tale, then what is there to worry? We know how it ends, it is alright in the end. In the end we get rescued by the prince. In the end the veil is lifted and we see all thing clearly. Looking back at the story everything makes sense, it’s only in the moment that we cannot see past our predicament. 

When you’re not sure you like the picture just wait, it’s not finished yet. He’s still painting the canvas. When you’re stuck in a tight spot and there’s no way out, don’t give up, in the end you are rescued. When you are not sure who you are and how to act, don’t worry, your character is not finished. In the end everything is alright. The wrong is undone, the evil destroyed, the monster comes to an end. This fairy tale turns out alright, and everyone knows that tension is what makes a great story. When you’re on the edge of your seat waiting to turn the page, knowing that he will get out of the scape he’s in. It’s exciting, it’s an adventure, it’s the masterpiece that we’re living in. 

English Vintner

It's life here

Well, well, I am sitting in a comfortable home in the city of Mbale, Uganda. Internet is fast, good food around me, and fun fellowship with the people surrounding me too. Once a month the OPCU Mission has a get together, the two missions, one in Mbale and the other in Karamoja have a meeting and talk about the work that each individual is doing. It is usually a two or three day visit. Last month they had the Mission meeting in Karamoja and the two families from Mbale OPCU came up, this month the Karamoja team came down. Some of us came down on Wednesday, and the rest of us on Thursday. We enjoyed fellowshiping and meeting each other over dinner Thursday night. Friday morning the meeting starts at 9am and goes until 4:30pm, or so I've heard. With plenty of breaks for coffee, lunch, and snacks.

So, now that you know where and why I'm here I'll tell you what I did. I slept at Bryce's house last night with Jesse and James. Jesse and James are two MA's who work at the Karamoja compound. Bryce works for Bob Wright drilling bore holes for wells all over the country. He recently bought a house in Mbale and that's where I slept last night. Despite the fact that I brought single sheets for a double bed I slept alright. The room cooled down nicely with a breeze, and the mosquitos were kept at bay thanks to a mosquito net. For breakfast we drove to a hotel that had a cafe, we got fried dough and some mandazi's which are a mixture of meat and other vegetables wrapped in dough and fried. It was pretty tasty, I must say. After the quick meal we drove back to the Webbers where we had dinner the night before to pick up Sarah to drop her and James off at a hospital in town, I think they're doing some kind of one day interning or something. They both work at the medical clinic in Karamoja.

After dropping them off we came to the Tunega's house, where the meeting was. Taryn was gracious enough to let me use her lap top while she met with everyone else. I was able to get on email and facebook and some other things. You know what I've found out? The less you're on the internet, the less you want or or can think of to do when you get back on the internet! Seriously! I find myself checking gmail and facebook and after 10 minutes thinking, what else do you do online anyway? I guess it's like any addiction, once you're off it long enough it doesn't have the same draw as you thought it did when you were on it. It's cool though. At 10:30am the Wright kids, Bobby, Anna, Mary and Kipsey and I went into town. We took pikis to town and went into a thriftshop. I got a shirt for working, since I don't have very many, and it said Eat Fresh Eat Local, which struck a chord with me. It turned out to only be 1000 shillings, which, is very cheap. (My exchange rate was 2400 shillings to the dollar). After the thriftshop we went to a grocery store and got a few items, I picked up some black tea and biscuits. Then we went to market, the place where you barter for everything. I wasn't planning to do very much shopping but I wanted to get some gun boots. I bartered down a little for them, but I'm sure I could've done better, oh well, I just stimulated the economy a little more in Uganda. Then the guy wanted me to buy a shirt, I was interested in getting a Uganda jersey to remember the country by (I got a Honduras jersey when I was there). He picked it out and told me the price, I got him down a little bit and bought it, then he wanted me to buy shorts to go with it. Well, I wasn't very into getting matching shorts, just not my thing, but, he insisted. First 15000 shillings but he brought the price down to 7000. I figure if I don't where them I can donate them to One7 ministry where they are always taking clothes to give to their kids and give away to people who really need them.

It's fun though. I found out that it cost me about 11 cents a minute to call home. I thought it was much higher than that. I calculated it out after I talked with my family for 50 minutes on Wednesday night. I also found out that I brought a lot more money than I needed. I guess some people spend a lot when they go places, but I tend to be thrifty when I can, for the sake of being thrifty but I've also been convicted by David Platt to spend money, or put money where it really makes a difference. As someone put it Live Simply so others can Simply Live. I think I'm going to have at least 500USD leftover. So I've been praying about it and asking God what he wants me to do with it. I don't feel like putting it into my wallet for my personal spending, that doesn't feel right. So, I might be using it to fund a Jesus Wedding Feast or some such event, or just use it to bless the poor and the homeless where God shows me. After my plane ticket and shots and the initial cost of living on the compound it was a bit less than what I was suggested to raise, so that's where the extra money came from.

I realize as I'm in Mbale that the city of a country is so much different from the 'country'. Up in Karamoja is a much different place than here in Mbale. In Karamoja people are living on much less every day than in the city. You grab a piki all the time here, but in Karamoja it is still largely centered on agriculture. People have to rely on their own means of growing their beans and other staples and vegetables. In the city, people have higher paying jobs and buy everything. I don't know which I like better. I use to think I was a country kid, and in a sense I think I still am. But as I've grown to love community and people, I really like city's. Especially third world markets and such, they're all very similar. Honduras, Peru, Uganda, I've been to market in those three countries and it's pretty much the same, and I love it. I love the dirt, the guy who's sitting in the middle of the sidewalk and you have to step over or around him. Fresh bananas being sold by that lady over there. A kid walking down the street drinking from a bag of water, yes a bag! Sure they all have differences but a third world country is a third world country.

Being a farmer in the US is much different than being a farmer else where in the developing world. In the developing it's a way of survival, in the US where there are so many options it's much more one of the many vocations, or even a luxury, as we see hipster trending organic farms pop up all over the place selling high prices quality produce. I like the city, I like the community, I like being close to people, but I also like the country, I like being able to garden, farm.

Lately I've been doing masonry work with the Ugandans who work for Bob. Which means mixing cement and wheel barrow it into the house and scoop it into basins and hand up to the roof of the house where we're building a wall. The perimiter of the house needs mason work done from where the top of the wall is to where it meets the roof. Finding rocks that fit, are straight and don't fall off the wall onto is the challenge.

The stars here are amazing. Jim Knox pointed out to me the Southern Cross constellation last week after an authentic Ugandan meal which consisted of butchering chickens for it and ended with a dance party.

The rainy season hasn't started yet. I mean it has, but it's stopped. Which, is nice for the rich people who drive cars and drive down to Mbale, but for the poor who are cultivating the land it means no food. It's time to plant beans and everything else, and without rain there will be no food. It rained for 3 days last week but it stopped again, so who knows what the rainy season will look like this year.

I'm listening to music right now as I write this, actually Science and Faith by Script. But what I recently found out is that I love music. As in, LOVE! After being away from home for 5 weeks and with no computer or other device to listen to familiar music I realized that I crave it so much sometimes. I actually sometimes call Londa in Jinja when she's on her computer to play me a song over the phone because I miss it so much! :) I love blasting music over our speakers and having instant access to whatever music I want. It really is a blessing, a luxury. I took it for granted until I'd gone without it for 5 weeks. You know, you can go without a lot of things for a little while. You can forget your phone and laptop for a week of vacation at the beach, but you come right back to it when you get back home. It's so different when you actually settle into live somewhere without those luxuries. The mundane can become the norm. You have to figure out what to do, fill that time with something else. It's sometimes frustrating to be without it, because, sure everyone likes to think of getting off the phone or laptop, but you don't think of giving it up. And when you're away from something for 12 weeks, that's long enough to know what it's like to give something like that up. I know what it's like to go somewhere and be without something. I'm constantly asking to borrow a laptop for my needs. I don't have it at my finger tips. I can't play music because it will slow the internet down (in Karamoja it's a high commodity ) .

But life is good. It's more down to the basics. I'm doing a lot of reading, and since I read the dozen or so books I brought in the first 4 weeks I'm just reading my Bible. I'm seeing how fast I can read through it, I think sometime in May I will be finished, which is sooner than my goal was. I wanted to finish before I left, but I'm going to finish before then. I found that reading the Bible chronologically as it's put in the order it's printed makes me crave the New Testament. It's not that I don't like reading the OT, but I have a craving for the story of when Love walked among us, in the four gospels. And the writings of Paul and the letter of James and Revelation. I like the big picture I'm getting as I read through the Bible this quickly and I think once I've done it at this pace it will be easier to read larger chunks at a time after this 'bible bootcamp'.

Well, this is longer than it was suppose to be, but maybe some of you will enjoy it. I know it's a lot of ramblings, but I'm just putting my thoughts down as they come to me.


English Vintner

Uganda

So, I've been in Uganda coming up on two weeks. The flight was long, but not bad. Met several people along the way who made it more enjoyable.

During my wait time in Charlotte airport before I boarded I met someone who was flying to see her son who was in the ICU for an accident involving his abuse of alcohol. But that she believed God was faithful and was praying that He would use this to bring him to himself. I told her what I was doing and she prayed for me. It was awesome to get that experience with another believer.

I flew to Newark and flew out of there just as the snow was coming down (many flights after mine were canceled due to weather) and flew to Amsterdam. I had a layover there, and met some other white people flying to Uganda. We talked about what eachother was doing there, as it was obvious we were all going to that small country of Uganda and since we were a minority, we instantly felt some kind of community.

I got to Uganda around 11:30pm and had to get my visa, which was simple enough. I walked around customs and arrived outside with a hundred Ugandans with signs waiting for people. It was very humid and very hot, and plenty of bugs flying around. I didn't see Al, the pastor picking me up so I found someone who let me use his phone and I called his number. He picked up and we soon found each other. I walked with him out to his car. I called my Mom and let her know I was alive and well.

We made our way to the hotel nearby and settled in. It reminded me of a Peruvian hotel I'd stayed in. Sleep was enjoyable and welcome, I even got a shower.

I woke up Tuesday morning after 5 short hours of sleep. We got up, packed everything and drove on our way. Traffic was horrible but we got to where we needed to go and eventually got to where we did our shopping.  One of the stops on our long drive to Karamoja was to see Londa very shortly to drop by a few items and say hi.

We made it to Karamoja around 6:15pm and I met the people who were there. I ate supper and went to bed. The next day I met the other people there and got settled in. I worked with Bobby, Bob Wrights son clearing out debris and knocking down wooden trusses in the Okkens house.


So...what does a typical day look like for me?

I wake up when it gets light. Well, that's not quite true. Most nights are so hot that I wake up throughout the night and try to get to sleep again. Around 6-6-30am I wake up and read my Bible and have devotions, I've started running with Jim Knox some of the mornings, and want to do it more. Around 7-7-30am I eat breakfast, usually two or three eggs. At around 8am I head over to Bob's place to see what I'm doing for the day. I work from 8am to 12pm and take a one hour break for lunch. Then I work from 1pm to 5pm. I then have about an hour and a half to shower, read, relax before supper. Several of the nights we eat at the missionaries houses and other times we eat by ourselves. Between 9-10pm I head to bed.

I hope to update again, but I can't depend on internet or electricity. The rainy season is just now beginning so that will make everything more interesting.


English Vintner

Uganda

I say goodbye to the US and say hello to Uganda in 3 days. I fly out of here Sunday afternoon and arrive in Uganda late Monday night.

I have not been as open about this trip before because of multiple difficulties, too much to try and explain here.

I am going to the northern part of Uganda, Karamoja (I believe) where I'll be staying for 3 months working. To be honest I don't know exactly what I'll be doing, I'm leaving that up to God. His agenda, not mine. I believe it involves some agriculture, learning skills useful for the third world mission field, and seeing the church in Uganda.

I want God to show me even more where and what He wants my life to be for him. I am feeling nervous and excited at the same time; it will be my first time flying alone, and it's a long flight (16+ hours). But, God didn't call us to feel comfortable all the time, and I believe in a God a lot bigger than my own comforts and familiarity. I'm expecting big things from this trip in my personal life with God.

I will not be taking my computer, phone, or such, and I don't know that writing letters is very good, unless Harry Potter lent you his owl. I will have access to someone's computer at the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Uganda Mission (the organization I'm going with) and should be able to post blog posts from time to time and maybe keep up a little on facebook.

God provides for His children, and we just have to believe. It was hard at times to believe that all the money would come in for the trip, as I never sent out any letters and only asked a few people for money, but God graciously gave me the $3700 for the trip, which included me putting in every penny I could earn working at the Stone Table Restaurant. So, I head off to Uganda, debt payed off, but not much in the bank for my return. Living for a God who is bigger than me and my own pleasure.

Pray for me, that I would listen to God and be a blessing and help to those around me. I want God to use me for His purpose and glory through this adventure. I want to come even closer to God, fall even more in love with Him. Pray that He would give me wisdom as this may be something He wants me to do long term. Pray that I give God all the glory in the way I live and love everyone I meet.

Thank you for those who have already prayed and will pray, I pray God's blessing over you. Thank you to those who gave financially, I believe God will bless you so that you can give even more away for Jesus!

I love you all very much!

English Vintner

Pain

Why does pain come? Why do our bodies literally shake when we wracked with grief? Why do we have to endure this? I don’t know. Sometimes I just don’t know. But in hard times there is only one person to truly put your trust in, and that’s Jesus. Jesus went through it. He knows what he’s inflicting on us when we go through these things. He feels it to, and he’s walking us through it. 

“Life is just pain without death.” I don’t know where I heard that, or if I really did come up with it myself, I can’t trust myself when I come up with something, it’s usually borrowed from something. But I think in a lot of senses it’s true. Life is pain, unless there is death. Is death an escape? Death is the passing into greater light. Into greater happiness, and out of this pain. Life in this world is pain, sometimes more often for some, but everyone experiences it. And the only way out of this world is death. We’re here for a moment, and with our Savior for eternity. We leave this life of pain through death and into a far far better place than we have ever known. To borrow a little from Dickins.

To love is to hurt. I don’t why I don’t just shut myself up from everyone else. Stop making relationships with people, because one day, they will die. Things will happen to them, and when it hurts those around me, it hurts me. We love by opening up our hearts to them, and when pain comes it cuts deep. Am I just a fool giving my heart away? It is better to have loved and hurt, than to never love and never feel the pain. So if that’s a fool, I’d rather be a fool. 

English Vintner