Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Update
Hello from Masindi!
First of all we want to let everyone know that we are ok. The bombing in Kampala was very sad and we are keeping them in our prayers.
Today we finshed laying bricks for an apron around one of the school buildings. There are many hands and the work is enjoyable.
We have been painting a few of the classrooms as well as the kindergarden room. This week we hope to do a little bit of art work using some of the talent of our team members and some of the older students. We also hope to do some exterior painting.
The people have been very helpful and very kind. Even the young children want to help us while they are on thier break. Christine has made us feel at home. In the mornings and evenings we enjoy sitting together singing and laughing and listening to stories.
God is truely in this place. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Nick and Christina
First of all we want to let everyone know that we are ok. The bombing in Kampala was very sad and we are keeping them in our prayers.
Today we finshed laying bricks for an apron around one of the school buildings. There are many hands and the work is enjoyable.
We have been painting a few of the classrooms as well as the kindergarden room. This week we hope to do a little bit of art work using some of the talent of our team members and some of the older students. We also hope to do some exterior painting.
The people have been very helpful and very kind. Even the young children want to help us while they are on thier break. Christine has made us feel at home. In the mornings and evenings we enjoy sitting together singing and laughing and listening to stories.
God is truely in this place. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Nick and Christina
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Bored in a Cafe
Another day has past. It is now Sunday and I am at the internet café again. I am trying to upload a video for Chardon United Methodist’s church service today. It is a video of a Rock Foundation School child (well, past student) reading the scripture for today’s sermon. Friday, we, Dave Weir and myself) spent close to 4 hours in a Ugandan Post office trying to upload the first YouTube video of a interview between Pastor Dan (from Chardon UMC) and a former Rock Foundation student. That upload only took about 9 hours. The internet here is all satellite based and is between the speed of dial-up and DSL. Hopefully this upload will go a little faster. The internet slowness is the main reason why I have not been able to upload any photos from our trip so far.
Today is church day. Apparently they start singing around 8:30am and the service starts at 11:00 or 11:30 (African time is like Costa Rica time, Pura Vida. It will happen when it happens.) The service might be over by around 1:00pm. Hopefully I will be able to get back to enjoy some of the service after this video uploads.
Meals here are quite different. I have became a vegetarian for the most part. I think most of us have. Breakfast is served around 8:00am. Bread, hard boiled eggs and a fruit. The pineapples here are delicious! They are more mellow and do not have the sweet sour taste, just a nice blend. Lunch is around 2:30pm. Rice and Beans are always the staple. Maybe some cabbage is thrown in there. Snack is at 7:30 or so. Coffee, Tea, Ginger Snaps, and coconut snaps are served. Dinner is around 10:00pm. Usually a chicken or goat is prepared, boiled is the standard way of prepping it. Noodles, rice, mango, banana puree, are the standard. This has been tough to get use to.
Yesterday a former student from Rock Foundation came to visit. He brought 2 gifts for the group. Two live chickens! They are currently tied up in the back and might be dead by this time tomorrow. Yummy…maybe…probably not.
Mrs. Christina has been feeling well. She is still taking it easy, but starting to get into the flow. Yesterday we dug a 40 foot trench by a couple classrooms so we could build a concrete landing. Also we sanded and painted a classroom and a staff room. So work is starting to get done. I do not think Dave and Nikki thought we would work this fast. They figured it would take two days to paint and about a day to dig the trench. All got done within 5 hours.
The newness is starting to wear off here. We are still enjoying ourselves, but are starting to think about home again. Christina talks about her mother and hopes she is doing well. I thought about my parents and the garden yesterday and was taken back a little. I sometimes forget that we are around 1100 miles away from our families. I do hope our garden is producing and that someone is watering it…hint hint mom and dad (Tim and Jean :) )
Okay enough writing for now. It has been around 40 minutes and the video is 21% done. That only means I will be here for about 2 1/2 more hours.
Today is church day. Apparently they start singing around 8:30am and the service starts at 11:00 or 11:30 (African time is like Costa Rica time, Pura Vida. It will happen when it happens.) The service might be over by around 1:00pm. Hopefully I will be able to get back to enjoy some of the service after this video uploads.
Meals here are quite different. I have became a vegetarian for the most part. I think most of us have. Breakfast is served around 8:00am. Bread, hard boiled eggs and a fruit. The pineapples here are delicious! They are more mellow and do not have the sweet sour taste, just a nice blend. Lunch is around 2:30pm. Rice and Beans are always the staple. Maybe some cabbage is thrown in there. Snack is at 7:30 or so. Coffee, Tea, Ginger Snaps, and coconut snaps are served. Dinner is around 10:00pm. Usually a chicken or goat is prepared, boiled is the standard way of prepping it. Noodles, rice, mango, banana puree, are the standard. This has been tough to get use to.
Yesterday a former student from Rock Foundation came to visit. He brought 2 gifts for the group. Two live chickens! They are currently tied up in the back and might be dead by this time tomorrow. Yummy…maybe…probably not.
Mrs. Christina has been feeling well. She is still taking it easy, but starting to get into the flow. Yesterday we dug a 40 foot trench by a couple classrooms so we could build a concrete landing. Also we sanded and painted a classroom and a staff room. So work is starting to get done. I do not think Dave and Nikki thought we would work this fast. They figured it would take two days to paint and about a day to dig the trench. All got done within 5 hours.
The newness is starting to wear off here. We are still enjoying ourselves, but are starting to think about home again. Christina talks about her mother and hopes she is doing well. I thought about my parents and the garden yesterday and was taken back a little. I sometimes forget that we are around 1100 miles away from our families. I do hope our garden is producing and that someone is watering it…hint hint mom and dad (Tim and Jean :) )
Okay enough writing for now. It has been around 40 minutes and the video is 21% done. That only means I will be here for about 2 1/2 more hours.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Good Morning
Good Morning from Masindi! Last night it rained for the first time in about 2 week here. It was some beautiful white noise. Christina is feeling much better. Last night she really turned the corner. She drank probably close to 80 ml of fluids yesterday. Those of you that don't know her, she drinks maybe 10ml a day back home. We think that flushed out what was in her system. Thank you for the prayers.
We are going to start working today. Painting is one of the primary jobs that we are going to tackle this morning. The nursery, and kindergarden rooms are first up.
I am waiting on a video to upload to YouTube right now. We are recording the scripture messages for Chardon UMC so they can play them at the Struck service. If you want to check out the video that took 9 hours to upload yesterday, you can go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBz6xcUyfo and watch a video of Paster Dan interviewing Joseph, a long time resident of Masindi.
I am going to try to upload some pictures this morning while I am waiting on the scripture reading to upload.
God Bless!
We are going to start working today. Painting is one of the primary jobs that we are going to tackle this morning. The nursery, and kindergarden rooms are first up.
I am waiting on a video to upload to YouTube right now. We are recording the scripture messages for Chardon UMC so they can play them at the Struck service. If you want to check out the video that took 9 hours to upload yesterday, you can go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBz6xcUyfo and watch a video of Paster Dan interviewing Joseph, a long time resident of Masindi.
I am going to try to upload some pictures this morning while I am waiting on the scripture reading to upload.
God Bless!
First Day at Rock Foundation
We had our first day at Rock Foundation today. We were introduced to many classrooms and had a good morning. Christina does not feel extremely well. She is currently experiencing some stomach issues. Not related to food, but stomach issues non-the-less. She has been put on a strict diet of Goldfish and Pedialight. (Bad spelling and thanks to Mrs. Cindy Zitko for the Goldfish!) Other than that, things have been well. We have had flush toilets everywhere we have gone, praise the Lord and the weather has not been over 85 during the day and around 70 at night. Perfect temperature for sleeping.
We have not done much in the way of construction at the school yet. Today was a day to recover from traveling and get use to the kids and school. Scott brought a guitar, so a lot of the day was spent singing praise songs to our Lord. When the kids heard the guitar, they swarmed us! It was awkward at first, but we got use to the kids!
We have not done much in the way of construction at the school yet. Today was a day to recover from traveling and get use to the kids and school. Scott brought a guitar, so a lot of the day was spent singing praise songs to our Lord. When the kids heard the guitar, they swarmed us! It was awkward at first, but we got use to the kids!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
ARRIVED SAFELY
We arrived safely today in Masindi after one night in Kampala. All 30 bags of luggage showed up! Praise the Lord! We arrived at the school after dark, so we'll have our first visit with the Masindi children in the morning, and of course we are excited for that! Hopefully we'll have some pictures soon! Please continue to keep us in your prayers - we appreciate all of you very much! Nick and Christina
Monday, July 5, 2010
Bags are Packed
Well it is July 6th, at 12:34am. We are leaving in less than 18 hours. Our bags are packed, our Malaria medication has been taken and we are anxious to get started. It is amazing to see God work through our sponsorship. We were able to raise three quarters of the money needed for the trip which is a huge blessing! Thank you to everyone who has supported us!
As we start saying our goodbyes to friends and family, many ask us what are our expectations are for the trip. Christina and I don't necessary have any huge expectations, we are just excited to go some where in the Lord's name. To serve others and to have them change our lives, not us change their lives. That is our expectation...
Updating this site... Our goal is to update the site as much as possible. However, apparently electricity is sometimes questionable. So when ever we have electricity, we will try to update with entries, pictures, and possibly videos. God Bless!
As we start saying our goodbyes to friends and family, many ask us what are our expectations are for the trip. Christina and I don't necessary have any huge expectations, we are just excited to go some where in the Lord's name. To serve others and to have them change our lives, not us change their lives. That is our expectation...
Updating this site... Our goal is to update the site as much as possible. However, apparently electricity is sometimes questionable. So when ever we have electricity, we will try to update with entries, pictures, and possibly videos. God Bless!
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