Baptizing & Visiting at Nakabango

There are lots of short-term churches and organizations that come to Uganda to work with the Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda.  One of those congregations is Messiah Lutheran Church of Weldon Springs, Missouri, who has adopted the Lutheran Church in Nakabango, a small village a couple hours East of Kampala.  Since I hadn't yet had an opportunity to visit the Nakabango congregation or visit with the mission team from Messiah, I planned to travel to Nakabango on Saturday or Sunday morning to worship with them. 

Meanwhile, one of my good Ugandan friends, Alex, is from that area and had been planning for his son to be baptized that weekend at his ancestral home.  Alex is the music director and keyboardist for the Kampala Lutheran congregation.  The plans all finally fell into place late on Saturday night.  I picked up a gas-powered generator, Alex's keyboard, sound mixing board, and speakers from the office.  Then, early on Sunday morning, I drove to Iganga (relatively near Nakabango) and baptized Alex's child in the presence of their extended family and a few friends.  We held the baptism outside and Alex played his keyboard so we could sing some appropriate songs during the service. This was my first "private" baptism service and I was the only clergyperson there so I didn't have much guidance.  The wonderful thing about a baptism is that it's pure Gospel proclamation - it's the real and tangible forgiveness of sins!  So what more can a person say than to point to the reality of what happens in baptism?  I really enjoyed the opportunity to baptize Alex's baby boy - I felt honored that he would ask me. 

Awesome Drumming and Dancing after the FeastAfter the baptism service, I traveled to Nakabango with the help of another friend, Ronald, who actually knew where it was.  At Nakabango Lutheran Church we met the short-term mission team from Messiah and spent some time visiting with them and hearing about their exciting week in Uganda.  We got out the gas-powered generator again in Nakabango to play some music for everyone to enjoy.  Except that we were out of gas.  So I got to find out what you do when you're out of gas and you don't recall passing any gas stations for quite some time.  Well, it turns out that those yellow jerry-cans that have an empty one-liter bottle stuck in the top on the side of the road are actually little places to buy fuel at a "slightly" higher price than at the actual gas station.  It was 3,000 Shillings per liter which works out to about $5.40/gallon.  The normal price for gas is about $4.50/gallon.  So we bought gas for the generator and headed back to the church to hook up the tunes.  Sunday was "the feast" which the Messiah team has done the last couple years.  For the feast, they buy hundreds of pounds of food - rice, meat, and all kinds of stuff - and feed as many people as come.  There were literally hundreds of children in line for some food.  The Messiah team along with all the other "guests" including myself were provided a place to sit and have lunch separately which is the way things are done here, even though I would rather have sat on the ground with everyone else and enjoyed the same lunch they did.  Our lunch included plain rice, flavored rice, matoke (plantain-like bananas), beef stew, chicken stew, deep-fried beef, cabbage, potatoes, and sodas and I'm sure I've forgotten something.   We all enjoyed lunch together and as the Messiah team got started on their next little "just for fun" item - applying temporary sticker tattoos to the children who wanted them (which they all did, of course) - I took my leave and headed back to Kampala with the generator and equipment I had brought and a car full of friends taking full advantage of the free ride to Kampala.  What a great day!  -Shauen

Have you shifted yet?

Shifting via Jimmy's Small Dump TruckThis isn't a question about driving cars.  In Ugandan English, to move is to go somewhere for a trip or journey, as in, "Last weekend I moved to Mbarara for Sunday's dedication of their new church."  "To move" is used anytime you're going to be physically moving your body from one place to another - "What are you doing after Bible Study?" "I'm moving to my home." 

"To shift" is what Americans think of as "moving".  To shift involves renting a truck and relocating all of your belongings to another domicile.  So for the last couple months Krista and I have been moving about town with a realtor, looking for a place to shift to.  We really appreciated having a place arranged for us when we arrived in Uganda and it was wisely leased only on a 6-month term, so now that we're more familiar with Kampala and with the places we frequent, we've been looking for an apartment or house closer to downtown, the Kampala congregation, and the major routes out of town for when we go up-country. 

Our New Apartment - From the Front DoorThe place we've found is a wonderful cozy apartment, 2nd floor, with great amenities.  At 1200 sq feet, it's half the size of the house we'd been renting, but it still has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a dining area and nice living room with a great little patio.  The kitchen is excellent and there's a little patio off the kitchen that our housekeeper has claimed as "her" work space. Our apartment complex has 6 units - 4 of them in one building and then 2 smaller houses - in the compound.  The compound has hired what they call in Uganda "a boy" - a young man who does the gardening, washes the cars, opens the gate, and provides daytime security for the property.  We also have a night boy who comically seems to go to sleep earlier than Krista and I do but at least he's outside and (hopefully) a light sleeper.  He opens the gate when someone comes home late and provides security.  We no longer have a view of the lake, and we are a little lower in altitude, which means we get some mosquitoes at night, which we never saw at our old house.  We have a little view across to one of the other hills of Kampala.  The compound has some mature trees and we have a palm tree right outside our bedroom window which feels pretty exotic for this guy from Seattle.  Finally, we have bars on our windows, like almost every other home in Uganda.  Our Living Room from the Bedroom HallwayOur last house had a team of security guards patrolling the compound and the gated community had been built and designed for shared security, so there were no bars on the windows.  Now, being on the second floor, having a much smaller space, knowing our groundskeeper and night-time security man well, and having bars on the windows makes for a much more comfortable stay for Krista when I'm upcountry and she remains in Kampala.  We're in a great quiet location and still get a breeze coming down the hill.  We keep saying to each other, "I'm so happy with our new home!" 

Having had only 6 months to accumulate things, we moved our entire house in two trips with a dump truck (lifting a fridge over the side of a truck isn't easy), and were almost completely unpacked the day after we arrived at our new apartment!  We've even got our curtains hung - fortunately they were the same height (almost) as our last house.  And we have 16 curtain panels left over!  Our apartment hasn't been occupied in over a year I think, so there are some issues that still need to be ironed out (like our showers which don't have enough hot water pressure to get more than a trickle out of them), but that'll come in time.  Now we've got to get some internet access and a cooker (stove) and we'll be set!  Please pray for us as we continue to settle in to our new place.  And if anyone asks you what the Trumps have been up to, go ahead and let them know that we've shifted!  -Shauen

Wednesday Night Bible Study - Acts 4

This is the third Wednesday night Bible Study I've led here at the Kampala congregation.  It took two nights just to get through Acts chapter 3 and tonight we started into Acts chapter 4.  We have about 4 regular attendees at the Bible Study, but we remain hopeful that as the Bible Study continues to meet the attendance will grow - consistency must first be demonstrated before people will begin coming.  As usual, Bible Study is advertised to start at 5:30 and we started a little after 6pm. 

Acts 4 - Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

Acts records amazing echoes of Gospel events.  Here we see that Peter and John have been brought before the Sanhedrin - just as Jesus was.  This is the first of three conflicts that will lead to a crisis later in Acts.  The Sadducees are specifically mentioned and the offense of the Apostles includes proclaiming "the resurrection of the dead."  The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection of the dead, so they have been perhaps doubly offended - first that these men are teaching in "their" temple and second that they're teaching what the Sadducees consider bad theology!  Notice, though, that when they seize Peter and John they put them into the temple jail until the next day because it was evening.  According to my study notes in my NIV Bible, "Any judgments involving life and death must be begun and concluded in daylight hours."  Now whether or not this issue of Peter and John was going to involve life and death judgments I'm not sure, but I do see here a reminder of just how badly the trials of Jesus were handled - in the dead of night, against even the Temple laws. 

We see again in Peter's speach the next morning to the Sanhedrin the pattern, 1) Jesus Christ whom you crucified 2) God raised from the dead and 3) Therefore repent.  The first two are present in this account before the Sanhedrin but the repentance is not directly called for - perhaps the stumbling block was in parts 1 and 2 and Peter knew the Sanhedrin would be unable to heed the call to repentance.

Our Bible Study class spent some time talking about the words "healed" (Acts 4:9) and "saved" (Acts 4:12).  These are both the same word in the Greek.  So we asked the question, how is being saved like being healed?  What a rich conversation!  Healed implies a foreign state - one in which you are sick, not fully yourself.  The same applies to salvation!  At the time of creation, in the Garden of Eden, we were fully healthy, walking with God in the cool of the evening, speaking with our creator face to face, in full relationship.  Since every one of us since has been born sinful (Psalm 51:5; 1 John 1:8), our sin now keeps us from the Holy presence of the Creator.  So what would healing be?  Healing would be nothing less than a full restoration to walking in the presence of God - a reconciliation of ourselves to God.  What does this describe except salvation?

Peter and John are noted by the Sanhedrin to be "unschooled, ordinary men."  Wow.  What possible excuse can I have for not sharing the message of salvation in Christ?  Can I say that I don't know enough?  That I'm not smart enough?  That I may be asked a question to which I don't know the answer?  Surely not.  I stand with a man who has been healed - me myself - in the flesh.  Peter and John are now living demonstrations of the promise Christ made to them, "I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict" (Luke 21:15). 

In another echo of the Gospel story, the Sanhedrin are unable to take action because the people know about what Peter and John have done and (presumably) support them (Acts 4:16; Acts 4:21).  And what they do ask of Peter and John, that they not speak or teach in the name of Jesus, Peter and John cannot do.  The answer they give should be the only answer we can give when we consider not telling the story of Christ Jesus, His work in our own lives, and His restoration and healing.  "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20) - an echo of the words of the prophet Jeremiah, "If I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name, his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.  I am weary of holding it in, indeed, I cannot'" (Jeremiah 20:9).  -Shauen

Making Dinner

Thanks to our recent care packages, I decided to make lasagna for dinner tonight since I had lasagna noodles in my cupboards. So I got out a recipe, made my shopping list and proceeded to the store. I was mainly getting my cheese at this store, plus a few other grocery items we were out of. For my mozzarella, I asked for one mozzarella, and the nice man behind the cheese counter fished it out of the bowl of water and placed it in a bag for me, along with some of the water. I then had to figure out what my 15 ounces of ricotta would be in grams; about 425 grams, but I asked for 450 just to make sure I got enough! It's great that they have ricotta here (at certain stores) and it is much cheaper than getting cottage cheese (which is at a store further away, providing they even have it in stock, and much more expensive than ricotta; a large container of cottage cheese is about $9, I paid about $3.50 for my 450 grams). I then proceeded to the butcher's to get my pound of ground beef, or minced beef as the sign says. There is no choice between regular ground beef, lean ground beef, or extra lean ground beef, there is just one bowl behind the glass filled with minced beef. Since I needed one pound, I asked for a little less than half a kilo and got about 0.42 kg, which is just shy of one pound, perfect! Since I was already at the butcher's, I also picked up some skinless boneless chicken breasts, or chicken fillets as the sign says. The two breasts are still connected, so you have to be careful with your request. One chicken fillet means 2 chicken breasts. I forgot this once and asked for four, forgetting that would actually be eight chicken breasts, luckily I realized my mistake in time and was able to change my request to two. Getting home I started the lasagna. I first brown the beef and then set that aside. Then, because there really isn't any bottled pasta sauce, I made my sauce from scratch. Then I of course had to shred my ball of mozzarella. Finally I was ready to assemble my lasagna. Although it didn't take too much time overall, it was certainly longer than the 15 minutes of prep time promised by the recipe! Right now I am waiting for Shauen to let me know when he thinks he'll be home so I can pop it in the oven. I am quite excited for dinner and am hoping it lives up to my expectations!  -Krista

Wednesday Night Bible Study - Acts 3:11ff

As mentioned last week, I'm enjoying an opportunity to lead Bible Study on Wednesday nights here in Kampala.  It takes some prep work to lead, and I tend to lead more in discussion format.  My goal is to talk no more than 25% of the time if there are 5 people in the Bible study, and even less if there are more.  Last week there were about 8 people.  This week started off with considerably less and I had that flash of thought - what if it was so bad that no one wanted to come back this week?  By the end of Bible Study, though, the class size had grown again, so I felt better.  Bible Study is supposed to start at 5:30, so I usually leave the house around then to get to the church.  We tend to get started around 6 or so.  Then we go for about an hour from the time we actually start - except tonight we went almost to 8 because our discussion kept going and going.  And we only covered 16 verses - to the end of chapter 3!

Acts 3:11-26, Peter Speaks to the Onlookers

The roles are already reversed - the beggar who in last week's Bible Study was jumping for joy is now holding on to Peter and John and the people in the temple are the ones who come running.  Peter preaches a great sermon, starting with our own tendency to rely upon ourselves - "as if by our own power or godliness..."  Then he calls in the big names - the names everyone inside the temple courts would recognize, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He conveys once more the recurrent theme of preaching in Acts, 1) You disowned and killed Christ 2) God raised him from the dead 3) Repent and be baptized for forgiveness of sins and you will receive the Holy Spirit. This preacher, this Peter, preaches from his own heart.  While he preaches to the crowd, "You disowned the Holy and Righteous One," he must be remembering how he himself disowned Christ.  Great preachers, it seems, are always preaching to themselves as well as to their hearers.

We spent some time in discussion about Acts 3:16, "By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong..."  Whose faith are we talking about?  Was it the faith of the beggar?  If so, was it faith in the name of Christ Jesus - did he know who Jesus was?  Probably - if he had been begging at the temple gates for 30 years, he had certainly seen and heard of Jesus who came through Jerusalem some 8 weeks earlier.  But why isn't it clear that it is the beggar's faith?  In fact, it remains ambiguous.  It could be read as Peter and John's faith.  I'm reminded of Mark 2, the healing of the paralytic who is lowered through the roof by his friends.  The text in Mark 2 says, "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'"  It doesn't say that Jesus saw the paralytic's faith - it says when he saw their faith - the faith of the friends of the paralytic and possibly (or probably) also including the paralytic.  So in Acts 3 we ask whose faith it is through which the man is restored.  Perhaps its good that there is no answer - that it remains ambiguous. Maybe that's even the point.  Faith is not something we do that we should or could take credit for it.  While restoration comes through faith, it remains a gift from God, a gift worked in our heart that receives grace and forgiveness.  To ask whose faith it is is to ask the wrong question - it is God's faith, given to us for His purposes.  "It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing" (Acts 3:16b).

The completeness of this healing will be made known further in the next chapter of Acts, when we see this man testify to what Christ has done - a testimony that demonstrates his complete restoration as a child of God.  Peter's sermon continues to work directly in the people - he uses the 2nd person pronoun, "you," over and over, making his words stick into the people who listen.  As Lutherans would say, Peter is using the law to full effect, convicting those who are hearing of their own state as sinners.

Peter also uses the language of "raising up" (verse 22 and 26) which always brings to our mind the way Christ was raised up on the cross.  There is also this unambiguous statement in the quotation that Moses makes about the Messiah, about Christ, "Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people."  This makes it pretty apparent that apart from Christ there is no salvation, an assertion reiterated in the next chapter (Acts 4:12).  Peter reminds these Jewish Temple-goers that 2,000 years before their time God made a promise to Abraham, that through Abraham's offspring "all peoples on earth will be blessed."  This, Peter says, is what has come to Jerusalem in this day, that The Servant (Acts 3:13; Acts 3:26; Isaiah 52:13ff) was raised up to be a blessing, first to the Jews, and then to all people.  

Our Bible Study conversation turned then to the Holy Spirit and the question of how there could be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit if the Holy Spirit was already there.  It's a question that we spent some time on, covering such ground as the nature of God - the presence of the Holy Spirit even from Genesis 1, and how you can receive a new outpouring even when you already have something - the way you can be blessed again and again.  Praise the Lord that He has come to be our blessing! -Shauen

Superbowl Party

That's right.  Good ol' American Football.  Now all of you watched the Superbowl in January.  I couldn't - obviously.  I mean, maybe I could have.  There may have been a bar somewhere in Kampala that had the big expensive US Sports package on satellite.  But that was the month we arrived and frankly, my mind was elsewhere.  Instead, when I realized I would miss the Superbowl, I asked a few friends of mine to try taping it for me.  Okay, not "tape" - I don't have a VCR - but somehow get a copy to me on a DVD.  Well, someone managed it.  Through a long and convoluted process I was finally sent a DVD of the Superbowl! 

A Candlelit Superbowl SpreadWhen I received the package at the Lutheran Media Ministry Uganda office, I immediately recognized what it was and exclaimed with joy, "The Superbowl!"  Three Ugandan men standing within earshot demanded that I throw a Superbowl party because they wanted to watch this American football game.  Tonight we had our Superbowl party.  Unfortunately, we couldn't feature Superbowl food, since that's mostly stuff delivered or prepared by restaurants - pizza, hot wings, sub sandwiches - or stuff too fragile to be imported to Uganda - chips, pretzels, etc.  So, since Krista gave me a gas grill for our anniversary three days ago, we decided on American summer picnic type food: hamburgers with all the fixin's, hot dogs, potato salad, deviled eggs, pop, beer, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and a vegi tray featuring cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and bell peppers with Ranch dressing.  Some items were rather expensive (cherry tomatoes, hot dogs, and the hamburger and hot dog buns), and some items we had recently received in care packages (Ranch mix, chocolate chips). 

The Superbowl party was looking promising - my fellow missionary Rev. Jacob Gillard has an older video projector donated by a supporter so we planned on projecting the game onto a white wall in our living room.  I had the living room all set up - chairs carefully arranged, coffee tables to hold vegi trays and beers, sound system ready to fill the room with smashing helmets.  When the group was about five minutes away, the power went out.  Now the power has been pretty bad this week.  I think it's gone out just about every day for at least an hour and sometimes for up to eight hours.  Krista had all the food ready, and the burgers and dogs were going onto the gas grill, so we would still be able to eat.  Waiting for Electricity...But without power we couldn't watch the game!  Jake's house has a functioning battery backup with a beefy inverter, so there was the possibility of watching the game at his place on the projector and everything, but his girls had just been put down to bed, so we knew we wouldn't be able to turn up the sound much at all if we had to watch it at his house across the street.  (My house has the same battery backup and beefy inverter, but it hasn't worked since the first month we were here - everyone else has security lights and interior lights still when the power goes out but we have candles.) 

So, with the power out and guests arriving, we settled in to a great dinner (by my standards) and enjoyed some good American food while waiting out the power situation.  Finally, dinner was done, the burgers were gone, and we needed to start the game or we'd be up way too late.  With the power still out, we decided we would take everything across the street to Jake's house and watch the game quietly over there.  Projector, DVD, cookies, brownies, vegi tray, Ranch dip, and all the guests made their way over to Jake's.  And three minutes later, the power came back on.  Yup.  I should've known.  I should have known that as soon as we gave up waiting and went over to Jake's the power would return.  A Real Superbowl Party!So, we waited 30 seconds or so to make sure it really was back on and then packed everything back up and came back across the street to our place.

The power stayed on, the beer and pop flowed, the cookies and brownies and vegi platters were eaten, and the Superbowl was much appreciated.  A few brief questions helped clarify the rules - although a 100 yard interception return doesn't need too much explanation.  I'm not sure if you remember, but it was quite a game!  There were interceptions, safeties, overturned calls, all kinds of great stuff.  It was a wonderful time.  Yay for the Superbowl!  -Shauen

Wednesday Night Bible Study - Acts 3

As one of the four clergy who regularly attend services at Kampala Lutheran Church, I occasionally have opportunity to do some of those "normal" things that a Pastor would do - lead liturgy, preach, or lead a Bible study.  Recently the Kampala congregation started a Wednesday night Bible Study on the book of Acts.  Each of the four clergy took the lead in the Bible Study for two weeks, and tonight my turn came around.  We were starting this week with Acts 3 - Peter heals the crippled beggar.

It's amazing that even after 2000 years, we see the same pattern of behavior with those who beg.  We see a beggar who has begged for so long that he doesn't even look up at people as he asks for money.  He's dejected and looks down, maybe watching the sandals of those who pass by while he holds out his hand.  Peter and John take the first unusual step of stopping and then making that strange demand of the beggar, "Look at us."  How often have we walked past these unseen people, avoiding eye contact, pretending as if they don't exist?  Peter and John instead look this man in the eye - acknowledge that he is a man, a person.  This is the first step in this man's restoration.

As the beggar looks up, expecting to get something, we see an echo of how fully Christ gave during his three years of ministry - over and over again, the expectation is wildly exceeded.  So it was with this man - he witnessed firsthand in a physical way the restoration promised in Isaiah 35:6, "then will the lame leap like a deer."  This is the second step in his restoration.  The third was his entrance, perhaps for the very first time, into the temple.  As a cripple from birth, this beggar most likely had never entered the temple - he was not able to because his lameness made him impure according to the temple law.  So when he is healed he is able to enter the temple for what was probably the first time ever - the first time he would ever have come into the house of the Lord, to be a part of the practicing religion of his day - the first time he would ever draw close to God or be able to offer sacrifices.  It's no wonder he was "walking and jumping and praising God!"  The fourth stage of his restoration is already at hand but does come later in the account, when he shares the good news of Christ Jesus, the one through whom the beggar was restored.  As a witness he testifies to the power of Christ and what a testimony he offers.

I'm sure this beggar, who had for 30 years sat looking at people's feet, can echo with Paul and Isaiah, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"  -Shauen

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our wedding anniversary - two years!  I have to say it's been the most amazing and wonderful and unpredictable two years of my life.  What a blessing God gives us in marriage.  And what fun! Based on our only other wedding anniversary, celebrating our anniversary in the US involved a trip to New Orleans to visit a friend, a night in a quaint Bed and Breakfast on our actual anniversary, dinner out at a restaurant, meandering about the town, anniversary gifts to each other wrapped nicely in paper, and Hallmark cards.  

This year, of course, things are a bit different.  We didn't go to any Bed and Breakfasts but I did bring Krista coffee in bed and made omelettes for breakfast.  Then, at Krista's request, we went shopping - I figured Krista just wanted to go window shopping because she likes doing such things.  Turns out we were shopping for a gas grill!  Yay!  I've wanted to get a gas grill for several months since we arrived in Uganda but the markup is about 100% here for such items, and we even contemplated buying one the next time we were in the States and bringing it back with us.  So after I enjoyed looking at our wide selection of 5 gas grills, I picked the one for us!

After our surprisingly exciting shopping experience, we tried looking for a Japanese restaurant we'd heard about but couldn't find it, so we went to the tried-and-true (and only) Mexican "Fusion" restaurant which happened to be in that area.  After a light lunch we had a few more stops to make - picked up some hamburger patties, a propane tank, and a few other necessary items so we could cook our anniversary dinner on our new grill.  I assembled the grill, found that I needed a Ugandan gas regulator instead of the one that came with a grill that wouldn't fit the Ugandan propane tank, ran back to the store to get the regulator, and fired up my new grill for the first time - everything worked perfectly.  I even had a beer while I cooked - it just felt like the right thing to do.  We set up some of our outdoor furniture to face our new grill and enjoyed the evening as the hamburgers crackled over the flames.  Our anniversary dinner was cheeseburgers on hamburgerish buns (not the same as what you would buy in the States, but close enough!), with mustard, ketchup, mayo, lettuce, and tomatoes.  We watched a classic James Bond movie on the laptop and enjoyed cuddling on the couch.  What a great anniversary!  Happy anniversary to us!  -Shauen

Mangos, Maize, Matoke, and Chicken

Fruit in the Offering - Some was Sent with the MissionariesThe people of Uganda are generous. Over the months we've been here, our TEE students have given us eggs and even a chicken! That's right - we have a chicken now. It doesn't actually live with us, which is good. I have no idea how to care for a chicken. It's apparently a local chicken that should be a layer - it should lay eggs. But the local chickens are supposedly finicky, and it needs a nice special nesting area to start laying. Anyway, a good friend of ours is currently caring for my chicken. I don't know if we'll end up enjoying its eggs for sometime to come or if we'll enjoy some chicken on the gas grill first.

We also receive all kinds of gifts when we travel to congregations up-country. We've received avocados several times - sometimes sent home with us from the offering collected at worship and sometimes handed to us as we pack our car to move to the next village. We've received corn, whole bags of mangos, and stalks of matoke. This is all in addition to the frequent meals that are prepared for us and the excellent African tea we often enjoy in our friend's homes. It's a wonderful feeling to receive such gifts as we travel among God's people and witness His work here in Uganda.  -Shauen

Creative Partners - Resurrection in Cary

Mission Display at Resurrection Lutheran ChurchMany of our partner congregations come up with creative ways to keep their members informed and involved in God's work here in Uganda.  One such congregation is Resurrection Lutheran Church of Cary, North Carolina, where Krista and I hold membership.  Resurrection had a special mission focus in June and requested that we pen a personal letter to the congregation as part of their display, and we gladly obliged:

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Resurrection,

Greetings from Uganda! Krista and I praise the Lord for your mission mindset – it’s one of the great things that attracted me to RLC when I first moved to North Carolina. Along with many Ugandans, we would like to thank you once again for your sponsorship of the Gospel proclamation happening here in Uganda. My primary task is teaching a class of over 20 lay leaders from congregations across the country. I teach an advanced course that meets every two weeks here in Kampala. We strive to teach practical skills and Biblical truth that our students can immediately make use of in the congregations they serve. At least once a month I am privileged to travel up-country to visit congregations. Just two weekends ago I traveled to the Kamuli area to be with one my students f or the dedication of their new church structure. I baptized over 20 children and young adults and confirmed over 30 that day! God is doing amazing things in Uganda – just as he is in Cary. What an honor that He uses us in that work. Thank you again for your ongoing prayers, encouragement, and financial support. May God continue to richly bless you as you have blessed us!

Shauen and Krista Trump
Your Missionaries to Uganda
through LCMS World Mission
http://TheTrumps.org/

The display that Resurrection put together included our latest newsletter, prayer requests, our prayer card, pictures downloaded from our website, ways to support us in prayer, encouragement, and financial gifts, how to send care packages and what to send, and a link to our Field Film.  Great job, Resurrection!  Thank you for thinking of us and for encouraging us by letting us know about your efforts.  May God continue to richly bless you as you have blessed us!  -Shauen

Lukonda dedication in Kayunga

Lukonda Congregation's New Worship SpaceThis weekend I was fortunate to be able to return to the Kayunga area, where I visited four congregations just last month.  During that visit on May 9th and 10th, we saw the beginnings of a structure at Lukonda that we were told would soon be a new worship space for their congregation.  Like most churches in Uganda, this worship space would also serve other purposes - in this specific case it would serve as a school during the week.   So when I was invited back to Lukonda for the dedication of their new worship space I happily jumped at the opportunity.  For those of you who are counting, this is the fourth weekend out of the last five weekends that I've traveled up-country: Kayunga May 9th and 10th; Mbarara May 17th; Ikumbya May 24th; and now Lukonda (in Kayunga) June 7th! 

Lukonda congregation is fairly close to Kampala - only a couple hour's drive.  And this visit I was able to take our short-term missionaries, Liz and Christine - both of whom arrived in Uganda only this past week - for their first visit up-country.  After leaving Saturday afternoon, we stopped for some wine in Kampala so we could celebrate Holy Communion on Sunday.  As we arrived in Kayunga, we stopped to check in at our hotel, Hotel Katokomu - which is pronounced the same as "catacomb"!  I had stayed there before and was very happy with it, although this time I asked to look at the "more expensive" rooms (rooms are priced at $17, $19.50, and $22 and I was curious what my extra $5 could get me).  The more expensive rooms were just located on the second floor and had a TV - same size bathroom, same size room, same size bed.  Not worth an extra $5 to me.  Then we continued on to Kayunga, stopping on the way to get some matoke (similar to plantain bananas) from a neighbor.  We walked back with the neighbor into her "garden" which is actually a plantation of a few acres and hand-selected the matoke stalks we wanted.  On then toward a local shop for some flour, stopping along the way to greet the chairman of the congregation.  Finally, we made it to the home of our TEE student - and the location of the new church structure.  We had some tea, shared some scripture, enjoyed the company and returned to the hotel for dinner and sleep. 

Playing with the Children Before WorshipSunday morning we had arranged to arrive around 9am but I assured the girls that meant we would leave the hotel sometime before 10am and they would still have an hour or so to play with the children at the church before the service started.  We had a leisurely breakfast, I finalized some work on a sermon based on Zacchaeus, and we stopped on the way to church for some chapati - a local flatbread without yeast to use for communion.  Sure enough, the girls had plenty of time to play with the children - which is one of their expressed desires for their two months of mission work here in Uganda.  So this was a great introduction to what they will likely see as they interact with children across the country.  They tried to teach songs and American games but since children don't usually start learning English until about 3rd grade, there were some difficulties with language.  Things finally got really going when the kids started playing games they knew - including one which I call "Simba"!

To play Simba (you know, Simba, the character in The Lion King, means "lion") all of the children line up on one side.  Then, one of the children (usually a girl) goes to the other side of the field/play space.  She's the "mother."  One child crouches down between the line of children and the mother.  The crouching child is the simba.  The mother calls out in sing-song rhyme to "her" children - all the children on the other side of the simba, calling to them to come.  The children call back that they can't come because there is a lion in the bush.  She calls back to them, "All of you run very fast to me!" and the children all cry out "We're coming" and then try to run past the child - simba - in the middle.  The child in the middle tries to catch one of the kids running past.  Like most children's games, it's simple, fun to watch, and just a little morbid.  They had another game, similar to duck-duck-goose called "Cat and Rat" and a counting game that teaches the numbers in English with jumping and clapping.  You never really think about the absurdity or simplicity of children's games until you run into someone who doesn't know how to play freeze-tag or red rover or duck-duck-goose. 

While the girls played with the children, I realized that my Swiss Army knife did not, in fact, have a corkscrew on it.  Hmmm.  Where to find a corkscrew for the communion wine out here in Lukonda?  Nowhere, that's where.  So I set about destroying the cork in an attempt to get to the wine inside.  Which means, of course, that the wine couldn't be saved for a future administration of Communion, but that's okay.  With no refrigeration available and with the unfortunate infrequency of communion in these areas, saving the wine wasn't much of a possibility even if it did have a screw-top.  I bought the remainder of the opened bottle from the congregation after worship and brought it back to Kampala.

Worship was a pleasant affair and one of the other local church leaders, Wilberforce, rode his bicycle all the way to Lukonda to be present for this special event.  As often happens here in Uganda, liturgy, preaching, and administration of the sacraments was reshuffled at the last minute so I didn't end up preaching after all.  But I did get to confirm one girl and then administer communion - only my second time ever doing so.  Some of the communicants had been confirmed last month when we were here and this was their first communion.  What a joy.  We also dedicated their new structure for the Lord's service.  For lunch, Liz and Christine got to enjoy their first taste of matoke and beans - an excellent meal, which I very much enjoyed.  Our ride back home was uneventful and pleasant.  Altogether it was a highly successful trip up-country.  -Shauen

Care Packages!!!!!!!!!

Krista opening care packagesThank you!  Today one of our good friends at the Lutheran Media Ministry Uganda office (the owner of the Post Office box where we receive mail and packages) went to the post office downtown with my driver's license and one package slip we had received.  I knew that we had several packages that should have arrived by now, so I asked her to also have the post office look up the tracking numbers for the packages I was expecting.  I gratefully sent her on her way to the post office with some money (Posta Uganda charges $1.50 to retrieve a package).  Sure enough, when she came back this afternoon, she was carefully balancing three, that's right, THREE packages on the back of the motorcycle-taxi she rode from downtown! THEN, a new friend I'd been in touch with here in Uganda stopped by with some of her visiting family and they handed us chocolate chips and chocolate from San Francisco and Chicago.  THEN, our two most recent short-term missionaries, who just arrived, delivered the items they were carrying for us - another care package as well as things they had brought for us.

Shauen with a New MagazineFOUR care packages plus hand-delivered goodies - in one day!  Oh, it was like Christmas in June!  We got one package from family in Milwaukee, one package from family in Washington State, one package from a good friend in North Carolina, and one package from the family of a young aspiring missionary in Illinois!  I think all parties had carefully read our "care package suggestions" from our Contact Us page - they were just filled up with goodies.  It just kept coming and coming - magazines like Popular Science, People, Us, and Time, spice packets for fajitas, tacos, and ranch dressing, Ziplock baggies in all sizes, chocolate, candy, chocolate chips, Jello, pudding, lasagna noodles, salt and vinegar chips, Stovetop Stuffing, bacon bits, corn and flour tortillas, macaroni and cheese - both complete boxes and just the cheese mix, granola bars, even seed packets for herbs we can't get here!  We felt so loved, so encouraged.  The notes we received in the care packages were positive and encouraging and just plain sweet, and one even included drawings from their children.  What a blessing our supporters are to us.  Thank you all so much.  May God continue to richly bless you as you have blessed us!  -ShauenStuff We Generally Can't Get in Uganda - Delivered Today by Loving Friends, Family, and Supporters

More Short Term Missionaries Arrive

Last month I was able to report the arrival of Alec for a three-month tour of missionary service here in Uganda.  This month I am pleased to report the safe arrival of two more short-term missionaries who will be in Uganda for two months.  Liz and Christine are focusing on children's ministry across the country while they're here, with programs similar to what we know as Vacation Bible School (VBS).  They'll enjoy a brief orientation in Kampala while staying with Reverend Charles Bameka's family and then they'll be off up-country, sharing the Gospel message with children and adults.  Please keep Liz and Christine in your prayers as they travel and serve here in Uganda.  If you're interested in short-term service in Uganda - anything from two weeks to two years, check out our Short Term Missions page! -Shauen

Snakes in Uganda

One good friend of mine tried to alarm me before I came to Uganda, warning perilously that she "had looked it up and there are snakes in Uganda!"  Of course, she wasn't actually trying to alarm me but rather to find a convenient excuse not to brave the 24 hours of travel time and considerable cost required to pay me a visit. Well, I've been on the lookout for these mysterious creatures since I arrived, my creative imagination conjuring up images of man-eating vipers waiting around every corner.  My next door neighbor has seen two itty-bitty snakes in the last six months but I've never seen even a one. 

Tonight I finally can claim to have seen a snake in Uganda.  Granted, I was on the road in the truck, going some 45 miles per hour, but I saw it!  On our way to Entebbe airport to pick up some short-term missionaries my truck passed right over the top of a slithering serpent as it made its way across the road.  The question I had to ask myself, of course, was "Why?  Why did the snake cross the road?"  I'll let you creatively provide a witty answer.  If it hadn't, my snake-free record would still be standing!  Nevertheless, it did indeed cross my path, and, I can confidently say, it passed underneath my truck with narry a scratch as I zipped on about my business.  So, my dear snake-shy friend, you were right.  I can now confirm that there are indeed snakes in Uganda. That's still no excuse for not visiting.  -Shauen