Learning to be a ConMan

I started writing this on Friday night in Kampala, and the only two lights in the room are my screen and the candle. Power is out again. TIA baby. This is Africa. I think I must still be in the "honeymoon" stage of culture shock, because these things don't bother me yet. It's just like, "Oh, ok. How quaint." I'm told this will not be my reaction in a few weeks, when I'm homesick. But, hey, it doesn't bother me yet!

Full Team!

Intern dance parties are the best. I think this is the Africa song?

This week on Tuesday our brave Mt. Kili climbers returned. It is so great to finally meet everyone! Paul and Meggie are both a joy to be around- we are blessed with the coolest group of interns here. We are also borrowing Katie Hawkes from the Colorado Springs office for a week before she leaves on her project trip to Kenya. I am pretty sure that God put her here this week just so I could meet her. She is a bundle of fun, and a KState grad- so we have some more Kansas blood in the area! The rest of the office staff is all here now, too. I am still getting to know everyone, but I can tell you they already have to be pretty cool to live and work here. We also had our first intern Bible Study this week at Phil and Emily Greene's house. (PS I love their kids Evelyn, Jonathan, and Luke!) David led us through a powerful look into the first section of Habakuk. We talked about questioning God and how to come to him in faith vs. in doubt. It was a humbling and enlightening discussion. We also bid Daniel Nyongesa farewell as he went back to the Construction site in Rukungiri. It is sad to see him go, but exciting because I know he is bringing Christ to his entire construction crew every day.

Orphanage

I volunteered for the first time this week at Nsambya Babies Home. A new LTV (long term volunteer) family from Australia has been going for the last few weeks. I joined Jenny Jackson and her three kids as we went to love on the children at the orphanage, all age 6 and under. It was a rainy day, and so the children were all crammed into this small playroom. Maybe 30 kids? THEY ARE PRECIOUS. Every child is so desperate for attention, they just want to be loved and delighted in! I am soo glad I went with the Jacksons because Jenny brought playdough and books and games to share. I was able to watch Jenny, Bri (12), Maddy (10), and Lockey (8) love on the children despite the language barrier and lack of man power. I am so excited to get back there and love on the kids.

Working at eMi
I started actually working this week! I have been working on a rainwater and pipe system for the African Children's Choir campus this week. I helped out with a few CAD details and then got to do quantity take-offs and put together a small estimate. Then I got to go around town and do price checking! (They don't have Home Depot here?) It was an interesting experience and very worthwhile. It is going to be tough learning all of the design and construction differences in Uganda, but I'm starting to catch on. Daniel Nyongesa, the CM intern working in southern Uganda, taught me this week that I am training to be a ConMan (Construction Manager.) So that's what we call ourselves now, haha. I am so energized when I know what I am doing is useful, and I have a feeling this will be a theme during my time with eMi!

See? I'm doing actual work! Love it!

(PS I added some more to this post on Saturday afternoon. That morning I enjoyed a LOVELY walk in sunny 70 degrees with a light breeze, and enjoyed a mini banana pancake that Belinda shared with me from a roadside vender. This place is beautiful.)

Praises:
-The fulfilling work! I am so blessed to already be serving meaningfully with eMi
-Our apartment is shaping up nicely! This week our sink was fixed, our refrigerator and stove hooked up, and lights installed!
-Meeting our full team, they are wonderful! The climbers are all back and we've met the entire intern group. I love EVERYONE!

Me, David, and Katie on the shores of Lake Victoria. So pretty!

Prayer Requests:
-For the Nsambya Babies home. The children need to know how loved they are by The Lord, and I wan't to help communicate that to them even though they don't speak English!
-To deepen the relationships that are already starting. I am so excited to see how God will use us to impact each other.
-BIG ONE: To find the church God has for me here! I want to get plugged in quickly! (....So I wrote that prayer request on Saturday. It is now Sunday afternoon- and I think I have found a church to get involved in! How quickly The Lord answers prayer!)

You May Be In Kampala If:
-you don't have to refrigerate your eggs because they are always so fresh
-you can't refrigerate too many things anyway because of brown and black outs
-you start thinking about yelling "mzungu" when you see another white person, too
-it is ladylike to ride sidesaddle in a skirt on a boda boda, motorcycle taxi. (I've done this, yay!)

Jan 27 Journal Excerpt:
"I love you so much I will go to the ends of the earth for you, my King. I would never see my family, never know love, and even die for your sake if you asked it of me. But you have not. You call me in to this adventure with you...and you bless me even further! I could never attain this kind of love. I cannot even fathom it."
Just a reminder about the exciting adventure The Lord has called us ALL into!

SForbes

Meggie, Katie, and I enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon at the pool.