A day at the pool

Meki (grade 9) & Tiya (grade 10) enjoyed the sun and fellowship.



The girls pulled Marc into the pool even though he had no swimsuit on...



Evgeni (Eugene) is from Russia and one of our 7th graders.



Chenzira is new to Heritage this semester. Her family is from Uganda, but they've only recently returned here from the UK.

Bowling in Uganda

While playing games with the Hopson's and Christina one night, I found out that Austin Hopson, 11, had wanted to go bowling over his Christmas break, and there just hadn't been time. So I took him and his brother and sister (Kaleb-nearly 14, and Emilee-9). It was a fun time together with my missionary kid nephews and niece... :)

A visit with Christy and Delight

On New Year's Day, Delight Hopson (pictured in middle, a WGM co-missionary) and I got to have lunch with Christy (in red, at right), our former Heritage Principal. We had a very nice visit then, and later in the week Christy and one of her teammates at dinner with me at my house. I love visiting with friends!

Christy was visiting Uganda for about 10 days with a team. She'd been here a few years back for 2 years, working with the Southern Baptist mission (fondly called the SoBaps). She is now assigned to Seville, Spain, and with her Spanish fluency, it was always weird (we just wondered what God was up to), to have her here as principal. Now we see the hand of God, giving her experiences working with Africans. Know what she'll be doing in Seville? Working in Spanish with African immigrants; a combination of all the training and experience she's already had.

God is so good in how He leads, teaches, shapes and helps us.

New Year's Eve in Uganda

I arrived back to Uganda after Christmas in Cameroon with my family. That night the Hopson's hosted all the WGM Uganda family for snacks and games. We laughed and enjoyed the evening and pray for the Lord's blessings and wisdom over 2009.
Pictured above left to right are Christina, Austin, Emilee, Delight and Kaleb.

Night out in Cameroon

Karen and family took me out to a nice French restaurant there in Yaounde, the capital. The gardens were beautiful with many flowers blooming and just a beautiful setting. The food was very nice, and it was a special time with family.

Cameroon doesn't offer much in exports and trade or anything, and the city was generally filled with dust (blowing from the Sahara) and dirt roads, etc.

My general impressions of the country are that it is definitely 3rd world, not an easy place to live (for Africans or expatriots), and that even there, Jesus has godly people who want to know and serve Him. Pray for more - many more- people to receive Christ as Savior. What a difference Christ makes!

Zac rules Starwars Monopoly

Yeah, so every time I play this game I'm reminded that I'm just a bad business person. In this instance, Zac "cleaned house" (or "universe", since we played Star Wars?!).

Hamricks and me

Listed from back to front (this should be obvious, but in case you don't know eveyone's names) are: AJ, then Karen and me, then Dave and Zac.

Unique gifts for Christmas

For my nephews, there is very little I can buy for them as gifts in Uganda. So this year, since I got to visit them, I designed and ordered these name plaques for each boy. All sorts of gorgeous wood products, often of mahogany, are found (or designed and made) in Uganda.

Heritage International Annual Christmas Banquet

The banquet took place on Dec. 12th at Lotus Mexicana, a new restaurant in Kampala. The food was delicious and we all had a nice time together. In this first photo, we've got the adults who went- from left to right...

Christina, from the Chicago area (a WGM Volunteer In Action- VIA- here through May teaching at HIS), Francis from Uganda (more on him later, but the teens really connect with him!), me, from Indiana and all over, Nick (more on him, later, too), and Jean, from New Jersey and also a WGM VIA teaching 1st grade till June 2010.

The next several photos are all from the banquet. The HIS teens enjoyed getting dressed up and having some nice pictures taken, plus we all enjoyed the fajitas and other Mexican fare. I promised I'd put the pictures on my blog, which many of the youth like to see (hi guys!- nice pics, eh?). This is not all the kids who went, but I had to glean out the fuzzy or poorly lit photos. :)

Lovely Heritage girls...

Ruth, Lebo, Vuyo and Meki enjoy a chocolate milk shake. Only about 3 restaurants in all of Uganda know how to make these. Otherwise, when you order a milk shake, it is literally shaken and foamy milk, and not very cold! Bummer!
From left to right are sisters Lebo (8th grade), Penny (10th grade) and Vuyo (8th grade). They come from South Africa but have lived in a number of other nations, including the USA.

In this photo: Francis (on left) is our Music teacher and from Uganda. Evgeni (Eugene), from Russia, is in the middle and in grade 7. Nick is on the right. He is a Missionary Kid (MK) from Bolivia through WGM, serving as a volunteer here till June or so.

Able, from Ethiopia, is on the left. Jesse, from the USA is in the middle. Logan was born in Zambia, is an MK, has lived in Uganda most of his life, except when his missionary parents have furloughs in their home nation of Canada. Talk about international families!

Christmas Banquet, continued...

Pictured from left to right in the back row are Kezza (from Uganda and the USA), Lebo (South Africa), Carlotta (Italy). In the front row are Ruth (Ethiopia), Meki (Kenya) and Donatella (USA and Italy). All of these young ladies' parents work in Uganda in the international business or aid-organization community.

The first photo of this set is of Kaleb, an MK from the USA. His parents are in WGM and are wonderful friends and coworkers. Caleb, on the right, is from the USA and Korea and is also an MK. Both guys are in 8th grade. Caleb is moving back to the USA as his parents begin other ministries there after Christmas. Such is the life of international families and missionaries. Goodbyes (and hellos) are par for the course.

Mischa and Yang are in the second photo. Both guys are seniors. We've been praying for Mischa as he went through some very serious health problems but God has healed him and we are so thankful! Mischa is from Holland and is a Missionary Kid (MK). Yang is from Uganda and his father is an economist working with the government here.

The brush man

This is the brush man. He is our African-style Wal-mart supplier of "aisle 47, household supplies". It is amazing how much he can stack and hang off his bike and still pedal/peddle it around. Ha. Nice pun, eh?

Now THOSE are some horns!

Do you want to know why only certain types of cattle are found in Africa and parts of Asia? Because only certain types, like the one seen here are resistant to tse tse flies and malaria! Interesting factoid, eh?
Even though I live in a city of nearly 3 million, we've got cattle and goats and chickens running all around. The city dwellers, some of them, want to maintain a small herd, even if it means moving their cows around to empty plots of land, open fields, and walking down the roads.
Not only are the cattle used for food (of course), but also they're often used in bride-price exchanges, even though some people here insist that this practice (bride price) should stop. "How many cows are you worth?" Not the best conversation starter, in my book.

Get to know some of the Heritage teens...

Although HIS is small, we have a good group of students. They even cooperate when I ask them to pose for some shots. Then things get carried away and you end up with fun photos like this one. This is most of the 9th grade. Logan has his arm over his face. He is from Canada, is a Missionary Kid (MK) and was born in Zambia. Laughing at the top of the photo is Bhavik. He is from India and his parents own a business here in Kampala. Matthew is next to him, and he is from Uganda. But until this year, he's been living in Holland. Jesse is at the bottom right corner. His dad works for an NGO (Non-Governmentatl Organization) here and travels a lot throughout Uganda. They are from the USA. Shanille has ancestry in Uganda and Canada, and her mom owns a restaurant here. Meki is from Kenya and her family also work in an NGO in Uganda. Maybe later we'll get a picture with all the 9th grade, as we're only missing Lino!

School kids...

Shanille and Meki are in 8th grade. They are joyful and kind teens who have a lot of creativity. A few years back, when Shanille first came to Heritage, I had the privilege of leading her to Jesus.

In Memory of Mic

In October our math teacher, Mic, developed an infection which led to a diagnosis of liver failure. After about 6 weeks, from the initial infection to Mic's final days, God provided many miracles. The biggest miracle was that Mic really needed to fly home to the UK and be treated with dialysis. He dreamed of seeing his family again and reconciling with family members there. Mic did get to fly to the UK, and he was able to have wonderful healing times with his family. He was surrounded with peace and love when he slipped into eternity on Nov. 6.

At HIS on Nov. 14 we had a memorial service for Mic. The chapel service was filled with love and glory to the Lord. I want to praise the Lord for the good response by the our HIS students and family. We are in mourning for our math teacher, but it has been so evident that Jesus has poured out His peace and blessings in this whole process.

Worship during Mission's Trip Prep Class

All students in grades 9-12 are required to take part in the Mission's Trip Prep Class. Each Friday we meet together to discuss and plan the mission's trip, which will actually take place in February. One of the things we're working on besides VBS type lessons are worship songs and unifying discussions.

Thankfully, Christina is good with song-leading and guitar playing. We're practicing some kids songs like "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes", "Hallelu Hallelu...Praise Ye the Lord", which we'll use during the VBS program.

Be in prayer for the teens as they prepare for this trip. Although all of them may not attend the 3-days away, all will have built some neat skills in order to help serve in churches or service elsewhere.

Nick Strong, Christina Maddalone and I are the adult leaders on the trip, with the trip dates as February 4-6, 2009.

Village Church Visit

In the early days of my blog, I wrote about a church named Nakigalala (Nah-chee-ga-la-la) about 1 hour from my house. The roads are terrible, and yet it is always a great encouragement to the believers there for us to visit them. So Jean and Christina (our 1st and 6th grade teachers, WGM Volunteers) took part in the adventure of the visit. It isn't getting TO the church that is the problem, it is the problem of getting OUT due to the mud and the hills.

While trying to get out of the muddied area right next to the church (on a hill), I was only sitting there thinking about what direction to try to go next, and the car STILL slid- into the reed walled church, no less! Ugh- that's not a good scenario since the place is very poor anyway. Imagine the church people talking about the "kind missionary" who knocked down the church!

We finally did make it out, with what should have been a 2-3 minute drive taking 45+ minutes up the first and worst incline, due to all the sliding, getting stuck, etc.

Please keep the people of Nakigalala and our other churches in prayer, as they have very little to call a church building and less to give in tithes so funds are few and far between for any type of building funds. Many of the Africa Gospel Churches want to buy land and build, but of course, costs for these ventures are always high. Most of our churches meet under trees, under metal roofed pole-barn looking places, or inside reed-mat buildings like the one in the photo above. Theft in these unsecured buildings is common, along with tons of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and even chickens and rats. Thankfully the rats and most mosquitoes only come at night, but they cause problems all the same.

If you'd like to donate towards the building of a church in Uganda, you can either donate online, or else send a check to World Gospel Mission, P.O. Box 948 Marion, IN. Include the project account number please, which is 150-21345. Thank you and thank you for your prayers!