White Water Rafting

Some time ago, Krista had the good fortune of going with a gaggle of girls to the headwaters of the Nile River for what is quite possibly the best white water rafting in the world.  After hearing her glowing report of the trip, I was excited (and scared) for my own opportunity to rise to the challenge of grade 5 rapids.  Since they had such a great time, Krista and her friends recommended we also go with Nile River Explorers when we finally muster the courage to have our own adventure.

Here's what Nile River Explorers says about the rafting trip on their website: "We have chosen the perfect 30 kilometer stretch of the Nile River. The first few rapids are low grade, 1’s & 2’s, and give clients a growing sense of confidence. As the river meanders through beautiful scenery, we guide the rafts into the mighty challenges of some of the best grade 5 rapids in the world. Twelve major rapids are rafted plus lots of lower graded runs; all selected to maximize your safety and fun."

Fellow missionary Rev. Jacob Gillard and I had been waiting for some convenient excuse to go on this trip and finally found it as some of our summer volunteers here in Uganda were coming to the end of their weeks of service.  So I, Jake, Alec, Liz and Christine made plans to meet in Jinja for a little rest and relaxation (of sorts).  For Jake and me, that meant rising early in the morning and meeting the rafting company's shuttle bus here in Kampala.  That bus took us to Jinja where we met up with our friends and enjoyed a nice breakfast followed by some basic instructions about the day.  After picking out helmets and life jackets, we boarded some trucks to head to the river.  We had seven rafts on our trip and lots of people wanted a video record of the journey, so the videographer from Nile River Explorers came along as well.  At the edge of the river the large group was broken up into the rafts and our little group of 5 managed to all stay together and gain another pair to fully load our boat at 7 passengers plus our guide, Alex. 

After some basic instructions in the water about climbing into and out of the boat, and helping right the boat when it overturns, Alex had us jump out and float individually down the first little rapid to put us at ease and help us practice the proper technique for if (when) we fall out of the boat.  You're supposed to float on your back with your feet up facing down river so you can see and so you don't bash your legs on rocks underwater.  It's a reasonable position to maintain - at least it was in that little itty-bitty rapid.  It didn't work so well when I lost the boat further downstream and couldn't even tell which way was up! 

There are a ton of kayakers who accompany the rafts - they're there to act as spotters so if (when) your boat flips the kayakers are on you just about by the time you pop up out of the water.  Then you can grab onto their river kayak and they'll try to drag you back to the boat.  There's also a large raft called the "safety boat" that ideally will never flip - it has huge oars set up like a rowboat and a big buff guy to paddle it.  It carries the first aid kit and lunch and is also available to carry anyone who decides mid-way through the trip that they aren't enjoying getting flipped out of the rafts. 

We flipped a total of three times.  The first was on a (measly) grade 3 rapid called 50/50.  That's cause boats flip about 50 percent of the time on that rapid.  On that first flip I managed to hold on to my paddle 'cause that's what Alex drummed into our heads - don't let go of your paddle.  But I didn't manage to do the other thing Alex drummed into our heads - don't let go of the boat.  It's utter chaos under the water - you have no idea which way is up and your limbs are pulled by the currents in all different directions.  Finally, if you don't struggle too hard, you pop up some distance downstream having spent all of maybe 10 seconds underwater.  But it's a long 10 seconds.  Those currents are why you don't wear shoes or sunglasses or hats - the Nile will claim them and they'll come out in the Mediterranean. It's also why they ask you right at the beginning to tighten the drawstring on your shorts. Apparently the Nile has a habit of claiming swimtrunks as well.

Flipping in Silverback RapidsThe second rapid we flipped on is a grade 5 rapid called Silverback.  It's brutal.  This time I managed to hold on to the boat... but lost my paddle.  I think when that panic and adrenaline kick in there's only room for one thing in my brain - so it's either the boat or the paddle.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch for a stretch of meandering river - pineapple and crackers.  The weather cooperated - not too much sun beating down on us but no heavy rain either.  I put sunscreen on 5 times throughout the day and still managed to burn my thighs.  In parts of the river you can jump in the water and swim and float alongside the raft.  Other places you're not allowed because "this is a croc pool."  Most people seemed willing to follow the advice of the guides on such matters. 

After lunch we continued shooting a few more rapids and finally got to a grade 6 (I think rafting grades on a 5-point scale, so 6 is "unshootable").  We offloaded and walked past the worst of that rapid - the boats were ported across as well and then reloaded for one last little part of the river.  There were two ways to shoot this last section - something like a grade 2 or 3 hugging the shore or a grade 5 in the middle through a rapid called "The Bad Place."  The 3 boys on our boat managed to talk the 4 girls on the boat into going to The Bad Place.  We never had a chance.  We put out into the middle and flipped almost immediately.  This time, the instructions weren't "hold onto the boat" or "hold on to the paddle" but "if we flip, let go and swim to the right."  I managed that although I did finally hit the shore well downstream from where we get out of the river. 

Some chips and water held us over from the river edge back to the camp where we enjoyed a huge dinner buffet and a few drinks looking over the cliff to the meandering Victoria Nile.  Then back onto the bus for the trip back to Kampala. 

To download the video, right-click on the link below and select "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..."

• Full Resolution Field Film - Rafting (261 MBytes)
• Compressed Field Film - Rafting for preview (9 MBytes)

What an amazing adventure! And I even managed to return home safe to my pregnant wife. What was I thinking going white-water rafting through grade 5 rapids with a baby on the way? Maybe I was thinking this is the last time I'll be doing this for a while.  -Shauen

Creative Partners - Faith in Bloomington

Faith Lutheran Church Sets Goals for Funding TripsMany 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 Faith Lutheran Church of Bloomington, Indiana. The Sunday School at Faith uses a tangible way to measure how their contributions accomplish something in Uganda. I estimated that on average it takes about $50 in diesel fuel for us to visit a village congregation where we preach, baptize, and confirm. So Faith's Sunday School started to use that as a measuring stick! With creative and colorful posters, Faith Lutheran Church in Bloomington has watched as their support sends us upcountry for Word and Sacrament ministry among God's people in Uganda.

Translating Cards into RunyankoreA Smile for Friends Across the SeaTo get their Sunday School children even more directly involved, the teachers for the 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School class colored some cards for Ugandan children and included a special message. Adam wrote, "God loves us no matter were we live or what we do." Meghan wrote, "Jesus loves you. Jesus' love shines for you. God will protect us." Mya wrote, "Gods miracle is for people of all ages." Grace wrote, "Jesus loves you and Jesus love shins for you and god will pertect you." Tom cited Revelation 3:4 and included the note, "Best luck with the missionarys." Isn't that awesome!?!? Their Sunday School teacher sent me these cards and during our catechism distribution trip I enlisted my friends Jerome and Frank to translate the messages into Runyankore, the local language. As an example, Adam's card is translated, "Ruhanga Natukunda tishonga oba nitutura nkahi ninga nitukoraki." Kids with CardsThen I carried them with me as we went to the Lutheran church in Kazo (Kazo I). I picked some children that I thought might possibly be somewhere around the same age (not that I know anything about children's ages) and read the cards to them in Runyankore as I placed them into their hands. What a great idea! Thousands of miles apart but we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thank you, Faith, for your creative support - and for encouraging us by letting us know about it! May God continue to richly bless you as you have blessed us! -Shauen

Catechism Distribution in Western Uganda

Runyankore Catechism (image courtesy Jacob Gillard)Much of western Uganda speaks the Runyankore (Runyankole) language. It's just one of the dozens and dozens of languages spoken across Uganda. Runyankore has a translation of the Bible, but little else in terms of Christian literature.  Commissioning a translation project isn't easy for the Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda, although they have translated basic songbooks into several languages over the years.  There are, of course, organizations that focus on larger translation projects, like Lutheran Bible Translators, which is the organization Krista's parents worked with in Liberia translating the Bible into the Krahn language.  Another such organization is Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF), which according to their mission statement, "translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven."  Runyankore Catechism (image courtesy Jacob Gillard)LHF took up a project to translate Martin Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation into this Runyankore language.  The translation project was sponsored by St. Paul Lutheran Church of Chicago Heights, IL.  The 1st edition of the translation was completed in November of 2008 and this month the Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda was provided 500 catechisms to distribute through their Runyankore-speaking churches.  So on Sunday afternoon of this week, we traveled to the western part of Uganda to distribute these new catechisms into the eager and waiting hands of hundreds of Lutherans. 

With 500 catechisms to carry and many people wanting to be a part, we took both my truck and fellow missionary Rev. Jacob Gillard's truck.  Our expedition included:

• Ugandan Pastor Rev. Charles Bameka - Senior Pastor in the Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda
• Missionary Rev. Jacob Gillard - my fellow LCMS World Mission missionary here in Uganda
• Missionary Rev. Justin Kane - passing through Uganda on his way to teach at the Lutheran Seminary in Sudan
• Ugandan Vicar Samuel Ogwang - serving his vicarage in the Runyankore-speaking area
• Ugandan Vicar Jerome Wamala - Vicar to Kampala Lutheran Church, native Runyankore speaker
• Missionary Vicar Shauen Trump - myself, not a native Runyankore speaker
• Ugandan Seminarian Frank Kainerugaba - native Runyankore speaker
• Fred Magezi - SouthWest Region Representative on the LCMU Board of Directors
• Moses Ahimbisibwe- TEE student, native Runyankore speaker
• Robert Baingana - TEE student, native Runyankore speaker
• Missionary Alec Fisher - short-term missionary who had spent 2 weeks in the area last month

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, KemihokoThe main focus of the journey was to put catechisms into the hands of God's people.  At each location we had introductions, provided some information on this basic instruction book for the Christian faith, and had a dedication of the catechisms in the hands of the people. We challenged them to use the catechism as a devotional book, to use it to teach their children and themselves, to look to it for answers to questions of the faith, and to use it for Bible Study before worship.  At one congregation I asked how many members had a Bible in their own language.  Only the lay leader of that congregation owned a Bible.  So for that whole congregation, Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation (which contains a considerable amount of Scripture) puts into their hands for the first time at least some parts of Scripture in their own language.

Monday:

• Grace Lutheran Church, Mbarara, whose building was dedicated two months ago
• Trinity Lutheran Church in Ibanda, whose building was dedicated in March 2009
• Besania (Bethany) Lutheran Church in Kinyamugara, up a harrowing road to the high plateau
• Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Kemihoko
• Immanuel Lutheran Church in IshongororoKazo I Lutheran Church w/ Their New Catechisms

Tuesday:

• Kazo I Lutheran Church
• Kazo II Lutheran Church
• Buremba (Bulemba) Mushambya Lutheran Church

Wednesday:

• Mabale Lutheran Church
• Miyola Lutheran Church
• Returning to Kampala via the Fort Portal Road

Kazo II Lutheran Church w/ Their New CatechismsAnd we handed out all 500 catechisms.  There is a small reserve remaining in a couple of the larger congregations and our first two congregations in the cities of Mbarara and Ibanda did not have the worshiping community present so the catechisms were entrusted to their Boards and leaders for distribution that Sunday.  Most of the congregations prepared food for us so we ate a good 4 or 5 meals on Monday and Tuesday - yummy!  Shauen Blessing the Catechisms at Mabale Lutheran Church (image courtesy of Jacob Gillard)With the exceptions of the road to Mbarara and from there to Ibanda, we were on murram (packed dirt / laterite) roads or small tracks or no roads at all until we finished on Wednesday afternoon and returned to Kampala via the Fort Portal road.  All told, it was over 900km of journeying and I was completely exhausted by the time we got back.  But it was an exhaustion that was well worth it.  Praise the Lord for the good work he has done through Lutheran Heritage Foundation!  And if you feel that catechism translation - providing that basic instruction book of the Christian faith - is something you'd like to take on, Lutheran Heritage Foundation is looking for sponsors for their next two catechism translation projects in Uganda: Acholi and Alur.  If you print them, I would be honored to be able to share them with God's people - and you should come along for the ride too!  -Shauen

Online Again!

If you look down a few posts, you'll see that last week we moved into our new apartment.  That means we gave up the satellite internet access we were sharing with fellow missionary Rev. Jacob Gillard who lived right across the street from us at our old house.  We had a wireless network between our houses to share the costs of internet access.  Now that Krista and I have moved across town we had to find a new internet solution.  It wasn't easy.  It's all expensive.  So when we moved to this new apartment I started over at the beginning, soliciting bids from the different internet providers.  Our options for at least 128 kilo bits per second (kbps) and unlimited use are:

1. WiMax radio-link (Infocom - 128 kbps for $531/month, installation $1652)
2. Satellite (iWay Africa - 128 kbps for $460/month, installation $2815) 
3. Digital Subscriber Line, aka DSL (Uganda Telecom - 128 kbps for $186/month, installation $176)

That's it.  There is no cable TV here, so that great bastion of high speed internet access in the US isn't available.  And you can see that each technology is pretty much served by only one provider, so it's hard to compare and each provider has its own niche.  The cheapest by far is a DSL line with Uganda Telecom.  The problem was there may not be any phone lines left in the area where we live.  What?  You don't run into that problem?  Well, after spending some time on the phone with the local technician, I finally got him to give me a new telephone line.  I think maybe he had some that he wasn't handing out but I pestered him too much.  Then back to the service center to purchase DSL.  To make sure he actually had a new line available for me, they called the local technician - twice!  Well, our high-speed internet access was installed today.  Our blazing fast high-speed connection is 128 kbps.  When you watch something downloading on your computer, your download speed is displayed in kiloBYTES per second.  Access, though, is sold in kiloBITS per second.  128 kilobits per second equates to seeing my Firefox browser download at 16 kilobytes per second.  So, 128 kilo bits per second.  Yup, that's just over twice as fast as dialup (remember dialup?). It costs $186/month. 

Just to compare, I decided to see what you, you in America, could get for that price.  Looks like your best bet would be Verizon's FiOS service (fiber optic) which gets you downloads at 50 Mbps for $140/month.  That's 390 times faster than our internet access for less money.  I don't think you can even purchase a 128 kbps connection in the US anymore.  390x faster sure would be nice.

That said, our internet access is good.  In fact, I think it's better than our satellite access was!  For you techie geeks out there, I did some pings to Seattle and our round-trip is less than 800ms, almost half what our delay was with satellite access!  Delay is crucial for Skype conversations, so our conversations are much improved and our calls aren't dropped nearly as much as they were on our satellite connection. Now I have no idea how Uganda Telecom gets its internet traffic out of the country.  There is supposedly no fiber optic network into Uganda, so they must do it all with back-haul radios to Kenya or something. 

There is a new fiber optic sea cable running to Kenya that is supposed to be lit up this year and connected into Uganda, which should drive down internet access prices considerably.  We'll see.  The nice thing about internet access costs is that they always go down.  In the meantime, Krista and I are super-grateful for our little overpriced 128kbps.  And you - you with the FiOS 50Mbps service - appreciate what you've got, buddy.  -Shauen

4th of July from Abroad

Do they have a 4th of July in Uganda?  Of course they do.  They have a 3rd of July and a 5th of July as well!  The question, really, is how do you celebrate America's Independence Day from overseas?  I remember when I was in Rome on the 4th of July, 1999.  I was strictly a tourist, staying in a little campsite in the suburbs.  Somewhere way across Rome just after dark someone was shooting off fireworks. 

Now, 10 years later I'm abroad again on the 4th.  This time, though, I'm a resident, and I'm in the know.  The US Embassy sent out a note on behalf of the American Recreation Association.  The American Recreation Association is a country-club-esque place in Kampala which refers to itself as "Your home away from home."  They've got a pool, tennis courts, volleyball, basketball, a squash court, sauna, playground, billiards, and a guest house.  It's very affordable by family club standards - $150 to join and $620/year for the family.  But not that affordable by missionary standards - we're not members (yet)!

Anyway, the American Recreation Association hosted a 4th of July party this year. It was $12 to get in and well worth it. Entry included the barbeque with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, Heinz ketchup, yellow mustard, baked beans, coleslaw, fried chicken, and pop, and there was a cash bar.  Entertainment was provided - some traditional Ugandan dancing and drumming during dinner picnic-style on the lawn.  The US Flag was presented by the Color Guard (Marines) who were on loan from the US Embassy.  We sang the US National Anthem.  Then there was cake and cookies along with pineapple and watermelon.  After dark (remember it gets dark here between 7 and 8pm year-round), there was a fireworks show!  Our Marines even presented the colors again for a finale (and almost got caught on fire).  I have to say that my expectations weren't very high as you can imagine.  But I really, really enjoyed it.  The food wasn't exactly American - hamburger and hot dog buns just can't be reproduced and there is a difference between US corn-fed beef and Ugandan free-range cattle, even when it's ground up.  But it was close enough and the fireworks were great.  I even started to cry a little during the National Anthem.  It was great to be with so many Americans (kind of) but our little celebration from so far away made me homesick. 

Happy 4th of July, America!  Today we really miss you.  -Shauen

Even Toyota Corollas Break Down

Shortly after we arrived in Uganda, we acquired our Toyota Land Cruiser - a beast of an SUV - and completely necessary to get us up-country and far into the bush.  It's diesel, but it still manages to drink an awful lot of fuel: about 13 mpg at $3.52/gallon for diesel.  So for getting around Kampala, and even down to the Entebbe airport which has a good road, we bought one of those classic dependable cars, a Toyota Corolla.  I learned to drive on a 1984 Toyota Corolla and I even had a 1985 Toyota Corolla once.  My parents now have some frankenstein combination of both of those and I think some part of a third Toyota Corolla as well.  Anyway, for getting around Kampala, we knew we couldn't do better in terms of fuel economy or reliability than one of these Corollas.  The guy who found our Land Cruiser also helped us find a newly imported Corolla with only 45,000 km (28,000 miles)!  That's right, a 1991 with only 28,000 miles!  Impossible, you ask?  The interior, the brake pedal, the steering wheel, the upholstery, everything pointed to a car with that mileage.  It's in great shape.  Well...

Invoice from Speedway EngineeringSo here's the (now) obvious issue.  Cars are meant to be driven.  When cars aren't driven, the seals in the engine lose some of their elasticity.  The gaskets start to harden and the rubber in the engine doesn't get the oil that it needs to lubricate and protect it.  So.... when you pick up a 1991 car with only 28,000 miles on it, you can bet that it has sat for some time somewhere.  And, sure enough, after having the car for a month it developed an oil leak that at first looked to be pretty minor.  The only problem was that the oil leaked right onto the exhaust collector, so it smoked a lot for a minor leak.  Then it got worse.  Finally, we gave in and took it to a shop after putting 2 liters of oil in at a gas station.  By the time I got the car to the shop it had spewed oil all over the engine compartment - at least one more seal had blown. 

Here's the great thing about Uganda.  Labor is cheap.  And these particular Toyota Corollas are the cars used as taxis upcountry.  Although the Corolla has only 5 seat belts, it carries 9 passengers at a time in its life as an upcountry taxi.  So there are a lot of them around - parts are cheap.  Our highly recommended mechanic, Arthur at Speedway Engineering here in Kampala, got the problem fixed in one day.  Turns out we had blown a total of three gaskets.  So they rebuilt the top of the engine.  What's the damage?

• Overhaul Gasket Kit: 115,000 Shillings ($54.76)
• 2.5 liters oil: 22,000 Shillings ($10.48)
• Oil Filter: 5,000 Shillings ($2.38)
• Labor: 50,000 Shillings ($23.81)

So I'm a curious chap.  I looked up that overhaul gasket kit on some US websites.  It's Toyota list price is something like $370, and the best price I could find in the US is $115!  And I don't think you can have a mechanic give you the time of day for $24 in the US!  That labor, by the way, also included replacing the battery and doing a little body work.  FOR $24!!!!  Anyway, we're happy.  Our car is now running great again, and it should last another 19 years, even if we put on more than 24,000 miles.  -Shauen

TEE - Start of 2nd Semester

Our TEE class has come to the end of its first semester!  I can't believe that 5 months have already passed and that we're at the start of a new section.  Our class has grown and shrunk a bit over the last months with some students leaving the class because they received new jobs that don't allow them the time off, some students being released back to their congregations for service with the option to re-enter TEE at the next enrollment period, and a student being added to the class after unexpectedly finding himself in Kampala for a year.  So coming into our second semester we have 21 students. 

This class session was focused on wrapping up the last semester and setting us up for this semester.  We had a couple of "fun" assignments based on a test question from Rev. Dr. Utech's Pastoral Ministry 101 class in the Seminary:

Church leaders are often asked very important and deep questions about God. But the person who asks sometimes is seeking a very short answer. You have 5 minutes now to prepare a 1 minute response to this opportunity:

You have a friend at the radio station that broadcasts Dr. Chameleone’s music in your area. Your friend has offered you a free 1-minute “commercial” to testify about your faith in Jesus Christ as part of their Sunday programming. Your one-minute will be followed by the radio announcer presenting the programs at your church, so you need not mention them in your testimonial. You should be sure to mention the things that are most important to your faith along with the most interesting or meaningful aspects of Christ’s work in your life.

Although the Ugandan culture isn't one that lends itself to short "sound bites," the exercise is a good test of how well you understand something.  If you can condense what you feel is most necessary into one minute, you've got a good grasp of the issues and have a logical framework to support your information.  You should try it!

Then I presented a discussion about the key elements of the Christian faith - again, a framework through which we can interpret and evaluate.  We talked about how Christians learn about God.  We put all kinds of suggestions on the board - the Bible, theology books, the Lutheran Hymnal, the Book of Concord, songs, even the Creeds.  Then we asked which were authoritative (the question was posed in slightly different language, of course).  Our discussion finally led to (of course) the Bible as the sole authoritative source for our knowledge of God.  All the other stuff was written by men and we don't attribute any divine inspiration to those other sources.  I did point out, of course, that just because we don't believe something to be divinely inspired it means that it does have theological error.  I explained that even though the Book of Concord was written by men 1500 years after the time of Christ, I do believe it to be an accurate and true explanation and description of what we find in the Bible.  After this long discussion about the formal principle (the authoritative source of theology), we moved on to the key teaching - the most important thing we can teach about that theology (the material principle).  We had lots of suggestions, lots of good ideas.  They eventually talked me into asserting that the key and central doctrine and teaching should be that we are saved by grace, through faith, according to Ephesians 2:8-10. Right on.

Also this weekend, my fellow missionary Rev. Jacob Gillard lectured about ordination, since on August 2nd our three Ugandan Vicars, Jerome, Aaron, and Samuel, will be ordained as Pastors in the Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda!  So we wanted our TEE class to be informed about ordination. 

We have our schedule set for the next 6 months and it looks like we might even make it within the budget.  We'll be teaching on Stewardship, Major World Religions, Christian Denominations, Law and Gospel, Adult Confirmation Classes, the African Roots of Christianity, Responding to African Traditional Religion, Responding to Pentecostalism, and we'll have a weekend Servant Event.  It's going to be a great semester!  -Shauen

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