Kids Swimming

Yes, on occasion I do take time away from ministries and work. The Easter break from Heritage gave me time to sort of retreat away from most things. I traveled to Jinja, the town where the Nile begins at the north of Lake Victoria (you can sit at the hotel yard and see both the Nile and the Lake blended...). One day while away, a school of about 100 children came to use the pool. They were too cute, these 6-7 year olds, as they splashed and swam and cooled off.

Easter at Heritage

Above you'll see photos of our Easter Chapel at HIS. The Kindergarten class performed a drama acting out Jesus washing the disciple's feet, and the HIS Faculty and Staff sang a special hymn, "Because He Lives". It was a very nice time to worship the Lord together in this Easter Season.

Grades 6 & 9

The top photo is of most of grade 6 (there are now 8 in the class- 2 came to HIS after I took this photo). They also show us quite a bit of international flavor: Italy, Uganda, USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa and South Korea!
And the bottom photo is of grade 9. This year I've not had opportunity to teach grade 9, due to conflicting schedules at Heritage. But I have been able to spend a little time with them, which is a blessing. Last year, we had about 12 or 14 in this class, but as is common in international schools, a number have moved away. Down to 7 students in the class, only 6 were there the day I took this photo. Of those present, we have England, The Philippines, Canada, South Korea, Italy and Holland represented! Yep- we are an international school alright!

My Schedule So Far...

My class schedule this semester at Heritage International School is pretty okay. I only teach Tuesdays and Thursdays, with 4-5 classes per day at school. I teach grades 7 and 8 Joshua and Judges, in 2 separate classes. Pictured here is grade 7 in their Bible class. I also teach grades 10-12, in a combined class, studying the theme of Apologetics. Then I have Spanish 2 for only 2 students (this is a fun class!), and in the afternoons I teach grade 6 Bible (general subjects in the Epistles mostly). My "off school" days are filled with prep for evangelism classes which I and 5 others will teach (rotating) at Kampala International University, and my continuing ministries with youth both at HIS and in the Africa Gospel Church. We're preparing for a workshop on curriculum development for those already trained as youth pastors, coming up in April, Lord willing. So although it sounds like I've got a lot going, it is sort of a rotating schedule so I can handle it, so far. However, we do need help- hint- so come on over! :)
Last but not least, I am in charge still of the Volunteers In Action (VIA) program, where we have people aged 30 and down through their 20's who come for 2 weeks to a year at a time. Currently we have 1 VIA here, with about 6 more on the way between now and June! I'm "feverishly" working to communicate with them as well as set up the ministries in which they'll work once they come. It is so wonderful to have these helpers to lift some of the load!

The Prettiest Bird (okay; one of them)

The Kingfisher is, to me, one of the prettiest birds here, as you can see. I love the bright teal and markings! This one was outside my front door and just sat quietly for so long. There are other colors of Kingfishers, usually black and white shades, but this one is my favorite.

The Ugliest Bird

Marabou Storks are probably the ugliest birds out there. They rank (I think) higher than those chickens with no neck feathers (they have these here). I mean, UGLY. They have fine hair/feathers on parts of their head and neck, but mostly they appear to be bald from the shoulders upward. They are garbage-eaters, with records of each bird consuming more than 10 lbs. of garbage per day. Ugh. Yuck. Anyway, these guys have a few gifts; one is to reproduce at rates seemingly competitive to goats (which have 1-2 kids then those kids grow up in about a minute to produce more goats). Yes, the birds reproduce very well, and it seems by the next day (almost) the babies are adults themselves, producing more offspring. For some reason they like to dwell in trees only about 20 feet high, and their nests are huge, made of sticks and debris from the garbage dump. Oh, and they grow up to 5 feet tall. Yes, they are tall birds. You can see the wingspan is also pretty wide- more than 7 or 8 feet. Yikes! They have a gullet or some such throat pouch, which stores food to feed their babies. It is not a lovely sight- seeing the babe reach headlong into the mouth of momma or daddy and snare anything from a piece of discarded food to a piece of plastic bag. So these tall, reproducing, garbage eating, ugly birds have been seen all over Kampala and other parts of Africa. However, I have seen their glory. I believe God gives all creatures (well, maybe not mosquitoes or cockroaches) glory, where we can see a glimpse of Him. In the case of the Marabou Stork, it is when they fly. They don't fly low (except of course in take-off and landing). They fly about 1000 feet high-or more, and they simply SOAR! Usually you see anywhere from 2 to 40 (really!) storks high in the sky, soaring on the wind currents. It is a gorgeous sight! So see, even the ugly things of creation can have beauty to them! God is good- all the time! :) Oh- and P.S. Marabou Storks are featured in the movie, The Lion King, as they soar out over a water fall scene. But they look nice there- since you can't see them close up!