Radically Ordinary

As I was sitting here at my desk grading my 8th grader's essays I picked up my Bible and began reading Galatians. After reading the Eugene Peterson introduction and the following opening chapter it dawned on me: "There was a time in which the word Christian was synonymous with the word radical." I know none of this might sound like new questioning of the current state of the Christian faith, but what has happened?

Today the students at school voted on the Christian Character Award. The outcome leaned heavily on the quiet and well behaved students. Now, these students are a God-send to a teacher and great kids, but to think that our young adults perception of a Christian is someone who is quiet and well behaved seems like the complete opposite standard set by our Christian forefathers. Paul? A persecutor turned messenger from God? His letters are a string of disses and call-outs. The guy wouldn't be allowed in ninety percent of Christian churches today! ("But Kris, I thought this blog was for you to list the activities you are involved in mixed with the occasional picture with an orphan", you can skip to end of the blog for that my friend).

I am at risk now of doing something I despise which is to berate endlessly in some guilt ridden message that offers little value other than just venting. What I am trying to get to is a realization that has been stirring in me for the last couple months. For all the work I have done here and all the apparent missional work I latched on to my Christina belt, I have not done anything radical. The radical tells his students about his faith. Have I made my students laugh and challenged them academically? Sure. Have I told them I am in love with Jesus and he is the reason behind my every breath? Well... not in those words, but I've sung at chapel a bunch of times! Yeh... Mind-blowingly radical stuff there Kris... But I am praying. Man, am I PRAYING to be radical! My excuse in college was "I am in Abilene, Texas. How radical can I get?" But guess what? Being in Uganda has changed the scenery and maybe the amount of orphans I hold in pictures, but does that change the man? By the grace of God I pray a change is coming. Not only in my heart and actions, but those of my brothers and sisters.

Now on to the activities! I was blessed to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of the missionary families working with WGM (World Gospel Missions). Great food and great company. Four of my students are MK kids from these families and they are some of my favorite students. Ohh wait, I'm supposed to say all of my students are my favorites....

This last weekend was our big Christmas production. Leading up to Friday I was very stressed. Our Thursday dress rehearsal was mediocre at best and that was the only full run through we had before the show. It really set me off that we could not fit in at least one more rehearsal before the presentation. But the gamble paid off and the three presentation went extremely well. I was blown away by how much these kids handled the pressure. Now I have a better idea of how my directors felt before and after the presentation. There is this sense that these kids are not going to be able to pull it off, but then they take it in to a gear you haven't seen before. I don't have pictures yet of the performance, but as soon as I do I will post them.

Tonight I ate supper with some of the night guards here at school. It was delicious and only a buck! Even better, I got to talk and laugh with some amazing men. Great food and company? I think I have a new dinner routine.

I have been working out in my head a post about the cultural observations I have made since arriving here, but this post is already pushing the average attention span. I know cultural observations sounds about as interesting as... well, cultural observations, but it should give you a sense of what I am being integrated in to.

In two weeks I get to see my family and I can't hardly wait! Thank you for reading. Thank you for your prayers and support. God bless you friends. Love, Kris.

Death Is The Road To Awe

It has been about 3 weeks since my last update and I can only explain them as a combination of business and doldrums. A couple quick hits are a praise night we had at school awhile back. Not a huge turn out, but still great to worship with some amazing Ugandan musicians. The school had its annual Rain Festival. I did not have a huge hand in this. In fact, my class (which was responsible for representing Australia) did not place in any of the judged categories. We tried our best and it was a lot of fun, but decorating is not one of my strong points. During the actual festival I worked the pie throwing booth which was messy and a blast.

A couple weekends ago a handful of us went to an orphanage called Jordan House. It is a little outside of Kampala. Another great time to spend with kids and just see how people are working here to bring hope to the many broken families that live here. It was one of the best run orphanages I have been to in terms of programs for children and young adults. Honestly, the appeal of working with orphanages so far has surprised me. The joy the children here have is amazing given their circumstances. Unlike most children in western culture, these children smile and enjoy pretty much any kind of positive interaction. They know how to appreciate love when it is given. Something I am trying to learn from.

In other news (yes, I went there), Nathanael is back! If you remember this is the brother who spent a week in the hospital fighting malaria. On his first day back to work he received a phone call telling him his Grandfather had passed away. The next night he was on a flight back to the US for two weeks. While it was a hard week for everyone around here, it was a blessing to see God working. He not only kept Nate safe in health, but also was working in getting Nate home where he needed to be for his family and for his own heart.

I have not really talked about this (...in the two blog posts I have done), but I am involved in the schools Christmas production. Can you guess what it is? Yes, it is a re-interpretation of Coppola's "The God Father Part II" with undertones of Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men". How did you guess? But really, we are doing "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". I was thrown in to the project and at this point I am glad I was. During the first month here I was heavily involved in putting together the script and we had a plethora of meetings. I lost some of my drive as we have gone forward mainly because I dread rehearsals. Probably from my own days of being in plays. The past two weeks, though, things have started to heat up and the dance and music numbers are looking really good while the actors are starting to "get it". Prayers for this project because it is happening in two weeks! Crunch time for plays mean long hours and plenty of frustration. I am praying God can help me deal with the later.

Other than that I have been mainly working on the whole teaching thing. We turned in exams last week, which happened to be the first real tests I have ever made (other than reading quizzes). As dorky as it sounds I loved it! I am just hoping my excitement doesn't translate in to an impossible test which all of my students fail.

Before I sign off. The last few weeks have been somewhat difficult for me. It is strange, but I think I am homesick. I am not used to feeling homesick because, well, what home am I sick for. I realized this past weekend I am peoplesick (?). Meaning I miss the people in my life and not necessarily a place. While I wish community could be formed in a semester, we all have our emotional walls that unfortunately stay up for awhile (not really what God intended when he talked about relationship with our brothers and sisters). I am praying that I can work on letting my walls down with my brothers and sisters here and that God will be working in this community. I am thinking of each of you on a daily basis and hoping to see each of you "soon".

P.S. I am a strong supporter of no-shave November. This usually means for the month of November I look unkept (some would say homeless). Just wanted to let you know.

Worship night

Working the pie throwing booth at Rain Festival

Jordan House

Making french toast (yum...yum)

Some of the peeps I work with

What is the deal with frogs in Africa?

Before I write this second blog I would like to point out the mediocrity of my first attempt at an update. I recently checked out the blog of a friend also working here at Heritage and it, honestly, put my blog to shame. This same friend seems to be acting as an editor for my blog as well. The falls that we repelled from at Sipi was 100 METERS tall not 100 feet. Maybe modesty just comes naturally out of me. Or I'm just bad with distances. Either way it has been corrected.

One of my hopes during my time here in Uganda is to maintain the same relationships I was blessed with during my time in college. In the past a move or me usually meant disconnecting from one group and connecting with another. Seems like a perfect waste. So through this blog I want to be keeping those connections (also through the all powerful Facebook). So if you are reading this blog I appreciate your connection.

Last week was somewhat rough. After the power and majesty of the falls, the sight of traffic, pollution, and the overall chaos that is Kampala was unwelcome. But getting back in to the swing of teaching, while slow, was a relief. Even though every class period is not always peaches and cream (first time I've used that expression), it is usually a very fulfilling time. Laughing with these students and challenging them is amazing. Now, I struggle to understand how I deserve this opportunity to feel fulfilled with my job at such a young age, but I am thankful for every second. A number of these students, while privileged, come from broken homes. Either divorce or absent parents has lead these students to become embittered at a very young age, which makes this job a challenge that can only be taken on by God. My request for prayers is that this group of teachers, myself included, will not loose hope in the process that is happening slowly but surely.

This past weekend was centered around a worship night on Sunday. On Saturday, myself and three other teachers (Karli, Jessie and Jean) joined Studio 10 in putting together around 16 worship songs to use on Sunday. It was great to see the amazing talents God has blessed these people with. Even though it is not for me, Karli, Jessie and Jean give me chills any time they sing. The worship night went very well (my voice gave out at song 14). It was one of those rare moment when you are in a group of people who are legitimately worshiping the Lord without it being a show or people timidly facing the screen and singing the lyrics in robotic obedience. It was... refreshing.

Last week I also was able to speak during chapel on Friday. It reminded me of how much I enjoy public speaking. I spoke about courage. The courage God gives us to take on the daring task of being his servants. What I keep hearing God tell me about these kids is to give them a reason to follow Him. They keep hearing that they need to be servants of God, but why? Now, I'm not saying it is a trade off, but I don't see the harm of letting them know the perks of being a follower. The shelter God provides is definitely a perk. Anyway, feel like I'm preaching here.

I'm going to try and post some pics on here. Before I sign off, a great man that I have been blessed to work with here, Nathanael Kelly, came down with malaria this weekend. He was in bad shape and is now in the hospital for a few days. God has put some amazing people in his life that have been supporting him as well as any family would ever support their own which has been wonderful to witness. Prayers for comfort and healing. Thank you.

Some of the kids at the village

A friend I made walking around the village

Another friend

Nathanael, Karli and Myself

The Women of Hope

The 100 foot... METER falls dwarfing me

Moustache Day

First of all

So here I go. Blogging. Still a sceptic about my own ability to maintain something like this. Usually too bland going over details of trips and happenings so I might just keep this as a Journal. Tell some details but mainly reflect. My hope for this is to be a place for you to follow my life (self centered? I know) and to ask for prayers for myself and the people I meet during my time here in beautiful Uganda.

This past week we had off of school so some of us teachers headed to a village to do mission work. The 4 days mainly involved integrating with village life which so far has been one of my favorite aspects of living here. Some of us helped a couple teachers working at the school (2 teachers for 87 students if I remember) and went "door-to-door" around the village. It was good. Had some cultural frustrations, but for the most part learning to make food Ugandan style and playing with children was amazing. The children here are very different. Their lives are difficult and yet they don't shy away from smiling. They are easily amused also. It has been easy to fall in love with the children here. The rest of the week was maybe less holy, but still necessary. Nathanael (history teacher), Karli (PE), Jesse (Art), Donna (Math) and I went to a camping resort near some beautiful falls. We hiked and were overwhelmed by God's creation. The highlight was repelling down a 100 foot waterfall. Yes, like a boss.

Heading in to this next term I can feel the whirlwind of the last two month catching up. My prayer is for God to provide me with the same enthusiasm and excitement I have been blessed with so far. The teachers I am working with are amazing people and so far have been the greatest blessing. My prayer request is that this community we have will grow stronger as we all are here for more than the experience; we are here to serve the Lord as best we can.

In the future I will tell about people I have met so far and rolex's but this is a start. I am reading The Shack right now and have been pleasantly surprised. Actually that sounds very pompous. I have really really liked it so far.

I love each of you and think of you daily. I need prayers for clarity. I have been able to do many things while I have been here, but it can clutter. The clarity I am praying for is for direction as to how best to work here for Him. Thanks for your support!