The CEO
Greetings. Today I had the priviledge of meeting the new CEO of MAF Canada. Yes, I met him in person, for the first time, in Uganda. See, he started the job on September 15, a week after I got to Uganda. Suprisingly enough, he had never heard of MAF before being asked to apply for the CEO position. He's a real nice guy, in his late 40s early 50s. It was nice seeing and hearing another Canadian. In a few weeks he'll be doing a 16 city tour of Canada trying to raise awareness of MAFs work around the world. So you may hear him on Praise 106.5 or other Christian radio stations doing interviews. Coming...to a city near you...the CEO of MAF Canada. Don't miss him (to be said in a deep commercial voice).

In other news, the power is off again. Ok, so that isn't news. It's more...olds. But for some strange reason it's been off for 22 of the past 27 hours. It went off at 7 pm last night (scheduled load shedding) and came on sometime after 11. I'll say it was more like 1 or 2 am. Then at 7 it went off again until about 5. Then at 730 tonight it went off again. And it's still off. So the milk went bad. And when it goes bad here it doesn't turn slimy and sour. It gets all thick and turns into like sour cream or something. Grossest stuff I've ever seen.

Well, last night I got to see the stars without the lights blinding me. It was quite a sight to behold. I swear there are more stars here. It really made me think about Psalm 8 and appreciate God's love all over again. Sometimes we need to be reminded, because we foolishly forget so often. And yes, I can see the Bid Dipper, which is really cool because at home and 50,000 km (or whatever it is is) away I can see it too. Well, have yourselves a good day and God bless.

Good Sunday to you. Mine is going fine so far, except for the fact that I went to rest for a few minutes at 3pm and woke up at 5. Now I'll never get to sleep tonight. Actually I don't think I have quite waken yet so please forgive any typos and grammer mistakes. Thanks. Today's service was quite a warning sermon. It was from 1 Timothy 4:1-4 about people falling to apostate doctrine. However, Paul gives us a safe guard from it, in verse 4: keep a pure conscience through prayer and Bible reading. Pastor Josh told this story to illustrate.

There once was an orphan boy named Robert Robinson who attended a revival meeting held by George Whitefield. He believed on Christ and became a seminary student. One day he wrote the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Sadly, his words were prophetic. He indeed began to wander, and after many years he left the faith completely and travelled to France living a life of unchecked sin. One particularly depressing day, he was stuck in a stage coach with a Christian woman. She wanted to share with him this wonderful poem she had found. After quoting the 3rd verse, Robert burst into tears while blurting out "Lady, I know the words to that poem very well. I am the poor soul who wrote it and would give a 1000 worlds to feel what I did back then." The lady, shocked, continued reading verse 4.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

By the time she finished, the Holy Spirit had turned this man's soul around to Christ again, and he served His Saviour the rest of his life.

His life, along side the sermon today, gives us a warning that if don't keep our foundations on Christ through reading the Bible often with prayer we will also end up turning from Christ. And while even if we take a 1000 steps from Christ it only takes one step back, those 1000 steps will be the most miserable ones we ever walk.

Good Saturday to all of you. I hope it is full of relaxation and friendship. Today I got to experience a Ugandan wedding. It was actually quite similar to Dutch weddings, which is really strange seeing as the cultures differ so much. The only thing different was that they said the vows first and then the pastor gave his message. Or is that the same as back home? I haven't been to a wedding in like, forever. It did start in typical African fashion though...late. Anyways, tonight MAF has a social where we all get together and play a few games and stuff. Should be fun. Well, have yourselves a wonderful day.
God bless.

The Tale of Two Sausages
Hi peeps. Thanks for checking in today. This afternoon I went to Mega Mix at church. 25 different artists performed. Mostly African style, which includes rap and R&B. Well, it got over at about 7 so by that time I was famished. So I took the taxi home and proceeded to make supper. Well, you know when your hungry and you try cooking stuff fast? Usually something goes wrong. Like, the outside is crispy and the inside isn't cooked, or your eggs turn out extra crunchy and black. Well, that's kinda what happened to me. I started chatting with Mrs. den Hollander in Grand Rapids and kind of forgot about my sausages. I was reminded of them when this thick cloud rolled into the room I was in. So I ran over to the pan, just in time to see the oil burst into flames. And I'm not talking about these happy little flames a candle gives. These were about two feet high. So I decided the first thing to do was take it off the burner. It continued to burn. I knew that throwing water on it probably wouldn't be a great idea so I wondered at what to put it out with. Well I found some nice white flour. Who knew that flour can put out a grease fire? And quite rapidly too. So now I'm eating char-broiled sausages and eggs on a chapati. It's kind of like eating a breakfast burrito. A burnt breakfast burrito. Well, on that note I'd like to wish you all the very best for today and remember to keep fires out of your kitchens.

God is Good

Wednesday evening church services are great. I think every church should have one. That way Christians can be encouraged in the middle of the week as well as at the start of it. Tonights service was from 1 Samuel 29 and 30. David is going to join the Philistine army and fight against Saul and the Israelits. The Philistine lords told the king that David wasn't going with them because he might turn against them in the middle of fighting. See David had a huge army (1 Chron. 12). God was soveirnly blessing David even when David wasn't seeking His will. God was protecting David also. He turned the hearts of the Philistines against David. So now David is an outcast from the people of Israel and the Philistines. Just when things seem like they can't get worse, David and his men find out the Amalekites have sacked their town, burned it, and stolen everything including the women and children. The army got very upset and wanted to kill David. So now his own army doesn't even want him. And this is exactly where God wanted to bring David. See, once David saw the consequences of his rash decisions in which he didn't ask God's help, he repented. He said that now he will inquire of the Lord. The amazing thing is God answered David right away. He didn't say to David that since he was AWOL for two or three years he could wait that long for an answer. God answered immediately and told David to go after the enemy because he would get everything back and defeat the enemy.

God doesn't need our help to get His work done. He uses us and our talents, but He could do without us. See, working for God isn't me giving God some help. It is all of God. When we start thinking God needs our help, we will fall like David. Then God will show us that He is in control of everything and we need Him. God orders all things for the Christian's good. Even the bad things that we have happen to us are for our good. God's ways are higher than ours and for that we can praise God.

Congratulations Canada
For once, Canada almost got it right. A Conservative majority would have been great, but a Conservative minority is better than a Liberal government. So I'd like to thank Canadians for their message to the Liberals...12 years of leading this country doesn't mean you can start being fiscally irresponsible, or steal.

Today went really good. And by really good I mean that one of the kids refused to do work until talked to by Gerrit. Finally all the work was done by 1 in the afternoon even though it could have been done by noon. Since I didn't sleep very good last night this was the last thing I needed. It's hard to be patient when sleepy and a little grumpy. Today was also grocery day today. I am quite proud of myself. I kept the bill under 30,000. That's like equivilent to under $20 Canadian. Maybe it's because I thought since I chastised the Liberal governement for fiscal irresponsibility I better exercise some myself. It's quite hot today so the taxi ride back was hot, stuffy, and filled with 16 other people who were just as hot and stuffy. You could probably smell us from where you are sitting. Oh well, it's Africa. Smelling nice isn't high on the list of priorties here. Mainly staying alive past 40 is highest on the list, followed by not being hit by any passing vehicles. Smelling nice comes somewhere after having a home, running water, sewer system, electricty, and food. Well I hope you all have a wonderfully happy day.
God bless

P.S. I forgot to mention that today I saw a Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey on somebody. I think he must have wondered at why i stared so long but I had to be sure that it was in fact a CFL jersey.

Sunday
Greetings. How is your Sunday going? Mine is going great. We serve a great God. Today's service was excellent. Singing was really uplifting. It's really a joy to be singing and seeing others in the congregation smiling and singing and praising God. The sermon was on 1 Timothy 3:14-16: The Christian Life

1)Arises from the nature of the church. The church is not a human institution, it is the household of God. The secret for the church living in unity is focusing on Christ and Him crucified. The church is like 100 pianos that are tuned to the same device. They are also in tune with each other because they are in tune to the higher standard. Christians who are focused on Christ are in tune with each other too. Christ makes it possible to live a joy filled life.

2)Arises from the task of the church. The church doesn't invent truth, it displays it. The church must support and display the truth like a pillar supports and displays a building. In every way we are to make the truth of Christianity attractive to others. The church must also guard the truth from cults like JWs. John Calvin said that Paul uses the highest terms to describe God's people (pillar and guard of the truth.)

3)Arises from the core of the church. Christ must be the centre of the Christian's life. In the early church hymn, Christ was central to everything. Christ is in us, the hope of glory. The church must be Christ saturated. It is easy for Christians to go through the motions of devotions and prayer, but without Christ it is meaningless. We must relate to Christ on a daily basis. The Church that fails to preach Christ and Him crucified will die. A Christless religion makes the Christian lifeless.

I do have to admit that during the singing my bowels were moved...but not with compassion. I did get through the service and now I am sitting at home instead of going to Entebbe for the evening fellowship. So instead I'm listening to some sermons online. See, the internet can be good after all.
PS people...please comment. I love reading them

How are all y'll doing these days? I'm doing fine. Today consisted of looking for a place to get my hair cut which is a real pain. The only hair cutters just know how to shave heads here, which is the latest hair style here. Trust me, you don't want me to have my head shaved. And since this morning the power was shut off, I didn't have my early morning coffee so I decided to go to a coffee shop for lunch and have myself a nice cafe mocha. The Rwenzori Coffee Shop sure knows how to make a mean cafe mocha (good times, eh Dave?). Well from 12 til 4 I had worship practice. And that would be 12 African time, so we started at 1:30. It was really good and I'm looking forward to singing tomorrow. After singing I talked with Peter the Sudan dude and found out the only thing he knows about Christianity is the Jesus died for our sins. He knows nothing else so I'm trying to teach him a bit about the life of Jesus. Right now I'm reading Mark with him. Pray that I would be able to explain it simply enough for him to understand. After that I had a coke with a few friends and had a real good talk with them. It was nice to have good fellowship with other Christians and learn that their Christian experiences are the same as mine. We may have differnt cultures but we know the same Jesus. Well, now I'm going to type out the songs for tomorrow and print them out so we back-up singers actually know the words. I'm going to let you go cause the cat is trying to eat my chapati (big greasy pancake that I filled with apricot jam). Have youselves a blessed Sunday.

Chinese Food
Today was the day Jonathan got to help prepare Chinese food as part of his schooling. Being the great Chinese chef that I am, I called the only native Chinese person who is with MAF Uganda. Lhaki is from Hong Kong, and I decided that the best way for Jonathan to learn how to cook Chinese was to get it first hand. And boy, what a meal she prepared. Sweat and sour chicken over rice, tomatoe egg soup with ground beef, and fruit. Klazina tried her hand at making fortune cookies but they turned out to be fortune pancakes. Something just seems a little wrong about pulling a fortune out of a pancake. Anyways, our main chef was supposed to be Jonathan, but he got sick. So it was Lhaki and I who cooked the meal. She kept telling people how good I was, but we all know the truth. Her superior cooking skills made up for my lack of anything to do with cooking. Those Chinese sure know how to cook.

The Chicken

There is a chicken that lives here on the compound. It is a pet chicken, in fact. Jill, who used to live upstairs, adopted this chicken as a pet. Well, this chicken has some kind of powers. It has made friends with the dogs. Now, most dogs I know like chikens too. Chickens that are in their stomachs. Well, this psychotic chicken also likes to be near the generator, especially when it's running. She finds this the perfect place to lay her eggs. Such a calm, serene place. Well, today I found said chicken UPSTAIRS. Ok, the only way she got up there was through the basement door, walking through the hallway, up the stairs, and voila...she's upstairs. How do I know this chicken is a she, you ask? Well if you were paying attention before you would have noticed that it lays eggs. Now, please name one chicken that is not a she that lays eggs. That's what I thought. It's a she. Now the only she would go back to where she belongs, namely outside, was if I picked her up and brought here downstairs, threw her outside, and shut the door. What kind of chicken is this anyways? I should make it into chicken soup this Sunday. Well, that's my story for today folks. I wrote some thoughts down about music at michaelneels.wordpress.com if you would like to see it. Just copy and paste that URL into your browser and it should appear. Have yourself a good day.

God is Good

I had the most wonderful evening tonight. Tonight was the midweek service at church. At 3:30 I had practice with the worship team. Then at 5:30 the service started. Anyways, I just think it's so wonderful to be singing GOd's praises. I never get tired of it. The sermon was about 1 Samuel 28. The first part was about David, who became like the person in Psalm 1 who first walks in the ways of the wicked and then stands in the way of sinners and finally sits in the seat of mockers. He was expected by the king of Philistine to go to war against Israel and David actually agreed to do it. The second part of the passage is about Saul calling up the spirit of Samuel. Pastor Craig put it together with the sin against the Holy Spirit. After many convictions and warning to Saul and Saul's refusal to listen to God, GOd refused to listen to Saul. Pastor Craig closed with a warning to those who think that they can get right with God whille they're old so they can live life up while they are young. It's a slope that after repeated warnings and convictions God will finally say that enough is enough. One of the best quotes from the sermon is " When a person sins against the Holy Spirit it is not GOd rejecting the sinner but the sinner rejecting GOd." We also had communion tonight which was also uplifting. God is good. Amen?

Ok, I'm Legal Now

No, I don't mean I can legally consume alcoholic beverages. I've been legal that way since I was 18 (living in Alberta). Besides, the drinking age here is 14. Apparently I received my working visa. Now I'm legally allowed to work in Uganda, although my position isn't exactly the highest paying one. But it's always nice to know that I'm allowed to stay in the country. I found this out at the MAF prayer meeting tonight. It's amazing all the information one gathers at such an event. Well, have yourselves a great day. I'm off to practice guitar and then head to bed.

The Millenium

Ok folks. This blog has had over 1,000 viewers since November. That is quite that statistic. On average about 15 people log onto mejneels.blogspot.com every day. And that makes me want to continue updating this here blog. So give yourselves a nice shoulder on the pat (to quote Pastor Vergunst) because you deserve it. But now I'm tired and need to get a good nights rest. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

Long and Tiring, but Worth it
The title basically describes my day today. Up at 5:30 just to make it to church on time for a final worship practice before church begins. In church from 7 til noon for two services (8AM and 10AM). Then practice for the Wednesday service until 2. Next off to Entebbe for an afternoon of fellowship, singing, and prayer. Then back to Kampala at 9:30. So by the end of the day, I'm a little tired. It is definately worth it though. Sunday's are definately a day to look forward to.
Today's sermon was about 1 Timothy 3:8-13. It talks about the qualification of deacons. It was really good, talking about how not only the official deacons of a church but also its members ought to live by these qualifications. Pastor Josh broke them down into 3 areas: personal life, spiritual life, and family life. I have to say that I'm really enjoying my time out here, especially since joining the worship team. I guess it's because I'm sticking around to talk to people my age and getting to know them a bit. Well, I'm heading off to bed because it wouldn't be fair to the Paps if I'm sick tomorrow. Have a good Sunday and God bless.

New Pics
Ok, I put up some new pics for all you people to gaze in wonder at. I know, I ended a sentance on a preposition, but I'm tired so I beg you to provide me with some slack. Thanks. So now I'm going to bed because I have to wake up so early. Oh well, it's all for a good cause. Have yourselves a good Sunday.
God bless.

African Beauty
Today is one of the most beautiful days since I got here. The weather is so nice. It's about 25 degrees and breezy. The sky is sunny with a few clouds. I could push pause and keep this weather forever and for always. We could be together all of our days. Ok, enough Shania Twain. But really, to put it in perspective, on Tuesday at 9 AM it was 28 degrees so by the time the afternoon rolled around it had to be 35. Well, while you people enjoy your weather (BC with rain...still, Ontario with party cloudy skies) I'll bask in the sun's beautiful rays.
God bless

Guitars, Power, and Burnt Boterkoek

Hello...once again. Yes, I know. This is my second post in as many hours. I just wanted a place to vent my rage and frustration, not to mention consternation, and here it is. How many of you were in the middle of baking something really good and looking forward to eating it with a lekker cup of coffee, only to have you dreams smashed and scattered before your very eyes? Ok, so i was going to make boterkoek because I'm bored and I'm hungry. So I waited until after 7 to start, just in case it was our night to have our electricity cut. Well, 730 came and went and we still had power. So I decided the coast was clear and proceeded to make the dough (or whatever it's called) and put it in the oven. Well, about 5 minutes into guitar practice the power cut out. AND MY BOTERKOEK IS SUPPOSED TO BAKE FOR ANOTHER 15 MINUTES!!!!!!!!!! So I tried to salvage it, but apparently I didn't do too good of a job. I put the broiler on in the gas stove and used that but the top burned in like 3 minutes. So then I put it over the stove top and now the bottom burned too. So I have duel-sided almond flavored carcinogen squares. Anybody want one?

Practical Joked

Hola mi amigos. How are things on the Western Front? Things out here in Africk are pretty good (anybody catch the Airfarce reference?). So today I got a text message that said "The rumour is all over town, am so shocked!!! You kept the secret from me. It says you are in love with someone." By this time I was scratching my head and thinking, "what kind of people are here? talking about me like this." So I was kinda shocked and twitterpated with this message. I mean, I knew the person who sent it and she always seemed nice at church. Then I read the last sentance. It read "DO you deny that you are in love with Jesus?" So I had to chuckle at that one. I mean, I was all concerned about this rumour and who I was supposidly in love with.


Editor's NoteOn January 10 it was written "Operation Uganda are going well..." This should read "Operation Uganda is going well..." Thanks to our faithful readers who shared their concern with us at Uganda Trip Blog. UTB strives to be as grammatically correct as possible so please accept our apology at this time. Thanks.

Wednesday Evening Church
Tonight I went to the mid week service held at Calvary Chapel. It was really nice, the singing is always so uplifting. The message was also really good. Pastor Craig spoke about 1 Samuel 27 where David goes to the Philistines because he thinks Saul is going to kill him. The message was what not to do when discouraged or depressed. David convinced himself that if he stayed in Judah Saul would kill him. He didn't pray about it or seek God's will. Instead he tried to take care of his own problems by fleeing to the enemy of Israel. After a brief period of relief, David ended up compounding his problems by having to lie to the king about how he was getting his food (by attacking Israel was David's answer) and then later having to fight his own countrymen. When discouraged, always look to God. He will never leave us or forsake us.

Hello civilians. Operation Uganda are going. There is no new vital information from the front lines. Our agents have nothing to report except that at 1500 hours rain was falling while one of our agents was riding a boda boda from town. He got drenched. Further bullitens when events warrent.

What an Exhausting Day
Good day. Today was action packed non-stop from start to finish. It started with an alarm clock that buzzed in my ear at 6 AM. Yes, 6 AM. The time of the day where only the nocturnal animals are out and about in deepest darkest Africa. I mean, the sun hadn't even come up yet. So after a cold shower (seeing as the power has been off for so many days in a row, my hot water ran out), which woke me up, and a cup of coffee, I was ready to conquer the day. I got to the church at just after 7. The whole whole worship team was supposed to meet at 7 but Niccoline and I (the two people that don't operate on African time) were the only ones there. The others sauntered in by 7:30. We got one quick practice in before the service started. So the first Sunday of singing went OK. Nobody left with their fingers in their ears screaming for mercy, so that should count for something.
Pastor Josh preached from 1 Timothy 3:1-7. It is the section about the qualifications of pastors. He broke it up into 4 sections. Pastors need to be noble in mind, noble in manner, noble in marriage, and noble in ministry. It was a really informative sermon. Basically he just followed the text, so if you want to know more check it out.
This afternoon I travelled with a small group to Entebbe. We attended the church plant in Entebbe. Usually there is a Bible study but tonight Pastor Craig took us to the site where the church is going to be built. It is a beautiful place, 200m x 50m right on Lake Victoria. A lot of work needs to be done to the land, most notably cleaning the garbage off it, but in time it will be a very nice church. We prayed at the site for the Lord's blessing of the land, the cleaning, and the building. Then we went back to Pastor Craig's place and sang some songs. It was a really nice evening. I just got back at about 9:30 and I'm beat. I'm packing off to bed. God bless.

I just want to tell you that you should never take electricity for granted. So since Thursday, the power has been off from 8AM to 5PM. Does anybody know how frustrating that is? This morning I went to make myself some coffee, and found out the power was off. How is one supposed to function with coffee? And just so you know, I'm addicted to it. I mean, I get headaches if I don't have a cup every morning. Speaking of drinking coffee, I'm going to need a good cup tomorrow morning. I have to be at church at 7 AM. Why? Well it's because I have joined the worship team at church. Ok, before you start laughing, I want to say it's because I was asked. By two people. Nor related to each other. So this morning I went to church to help clean. Actually, Peter the Sudanese guy, asked if I wanted to come with him to clean. So I did. And then the worship team started practicing for tomorrow's service so Sam (the lead tenor) asked if I wanted to join. So I told him that I would first see what it's like. Then Niccoline (one of the MAF people) showed up and begged me (ok maybe begged is a little strong) to join so she wouldn't be the only muzungu on the team. For those of you who are new and do not know the language of my blog, muzungu means white person. Literally it means "one who passes through" and was used for the British when they first came, but I digress. Did you know that "This is the Air I Breathe" has a tenor part? Cause it does, and I'm supposed to sing it tomorrow. Not by myself, thankfully. I'm just a back up singer. We want the people to stay for the sermon.

Water Water Everywhere

Today Klazina bought me some drinking water because I had run out. It was one of those 5 gallon jugs that you put in a dispensor thingy. Well, the thing weighs a tonne (actually I think it weighs about .5 kilos less than the metric tonne, but it sure feels like a tonne), so instead of me lugging it up the hill to my place, she dropped it off at the MAF office (next door) and I picked it up there. Well, the MAF office and my residence is separated by a bamboo fence on the side and a long brick wall along the front of both properties along the road. I went to open the gate to my house but the grounds keeper had gone for lunch and locked the gate. So I thought that I could lift the water jug onto the brick wall, climb over the gate, and take the jug down. Well, the only flaw in my theory was that the brick wall is relatively narrow...too narrow to balance a 5 gallon container of water. So I inadvertantly dropped the water jug over the wall. No big deal right? Wrong. See the water jug had fallen onto the MAF side of the bamboo fence (if you're wondering what bamboo fence I'm talking about I'm severly disappointed in the lack of your short term memory. Please start reading over from the top. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.) Not only that, but the hard plastic developed two tiny cracks. If the container was holding sand or rocks or something it wouldn't be so bad, but it's holding water which apparently likes leaking through cracks. I should know because my kitchen now has a puddle of water in it. So now when I pump the water out (I'm too poor to buy a dispenser so we have a pump that we stick in the top of the jug and pump the water out) air escapes through the crack and I have a severe lack of pressure. Oh well, that'll learn me.

First day of school. What fun for teachers. I mean I only have three kids to teach and I was going batty. It's the whole first day back from Christmas break and I was having too much fun to be bothered with school again type of feeling. Oh well, I survived. I even stayed to play monopoly after school. That lasted until about 3:30, when I decided to get myself bankrupt. Yes, you might think chance and luck has everything to do with this game but the truth is actually that a certain amount of skill is involved in loosing. I mean, if there was no luck involved I would loose every time. I actually bankrupted 3 times but Klazina and Jonathan were kind enough to let me stay in the game. That is, until I had no money or property to give people anymore. Quite a sad state of affairs if you ask me. So I would be happy to take anybody on anytime anywhere for a good ole monopoly showdown. I bet you could beat me.

Hi ya folks. Welcome back to my lair. So today I got to entertain both Sudanese refugees. The day started with me visiting them at their house. Although, as my picture shows, one could hardly call it a house. Their names are Sampson and Peter. For lunch, I took them to my place. They got really excited at the prospect of eating potatoes, so we had some of those with baked beans. Apparently beans are a must eat out here. So after they ate Sampson started playing guitar and Peter tried to use the computer. He wants to learn how to type. Anyways, now they left back to their place and I'm going to take a nap. Talk to all you guys later.
God bless.

P.S. Apparently the cat thought it would be cool to chase a bat into the house and kill it. It scared the bejeebers out of me.

Hello loyal followers..er...readers. Thank you for frequenting my blog and gladdening me with your presents. Um, presence i mean. Although I'll take presents too. So today I got to eat real Ugandan. You see, the Paps decided to have a New Year's Dinner for their staff. So both house girls (Francis and Pheona)along with all Francis' children, Pheona's mother, and Chris the night guard. So Francis prepared the meal. It consisted of matooke, chicken, cabbage (more like cole slaw), chicken, and pumpkin. Yes, pumpkin. I tried one bite and decided that I still strictly belief that pumpkins, along with all guards, were created for ornamental purposes only. Do not eat the pumpkins no matter what your mother tells you during Thanksgiving dinner. That pie is only for decoration, it is not edible. Some of you might be wondering what matooke is. Well, my plan to distract you with the pumpkin part didn't work because the people who are loyal members of this blog are too smart for such shinanigans. Ok, truth be told, I don't really know what it all involves. There is banana in it and I think sweet potatoes, although it might be dirt for all I know. It was a very good meal and I left quite satisfied. Well, I'm going to put some pictures on the blog of the Pap kids and some of my friends from yesterday's post.
God Bless.

Happy New Year to one and all. I would like to bid you welcome to my first blog post of the 2006 season. Church today was very nice. Pastor Josh spoke about how we, like plants, need three special ingredients in our lives to grow. Plants need soil, water, and sunshine. We need spritual discipline (Hebrews 12:1-4), daily food from the scriptures, and one day of rest in the week. A day set aside for focusing on our relationship with Christ. It was a really good sermon. Then after church I got talking to this young Sudanese refugee that is living here in Kampala. So he decided to invite me to his house and I went. I can't believe how little he has and how content he is. He and another Sudanese Christian live in this one room "house" that has a bed and a table. The room was like half the size of my bedroom here. I think I counted 3 cups, 3 plates, and a cooking stove. I don't think I've ever felt guilty about drinking a coke before today. It felt like I was taking their last 1,000 shilling from them. The also made me lunch, which consisted of rich and beans. It was pretty good, considering that I don't like rice. So now I'm supposed to meet him tomorrow and show him my home. I may be a little embarrassed because of how much I have. We sang some songs with them because one of them is a really good guitarist. I learned some songs in Arabic (the official language of Sudan), so that was pretty cool. Then I came home and visited with a guy from the church named Godfrey. He attends the Bible College here. So I had a pretty busy Sunday and now I'm super tired. I didn't get to sleep until 2 am here because of the noise outside. I leave you with a song we sung at church today.

Holiness, Holiness, is what I long for
Holiness, Holiness, is what I need.
Holiness, Holiness, is what You ask of me.
Take my heart, and form it.
Take my mind, transform it,
Take my life, conform it,
To Yours, to Yours, Oh Lord