Wednesday, December 31, 2008

We came to Pallisa today and are staying at Simon’s house for the next five days. Simon is the area director of Younglife Uganda and is the kindest and godliest man I have ever met. We cannot believe we are about to celebrate the New Year in such a wonderful place. 2008 has been great, but I know our whole group is excited about starting out 2009 by being here in God’s holy land. It is VERY hot and rural where we are, but Simon has built us a guest house to stay in and we are surrounded by about 40 children from the community constantly. We have been singing songs, helping cook, playing soccer, and resting from the Younglife training camps we have been running in Jenja. We had such a great time running the camps for the Ugandan Younglife leaders, and we felt that we really were able to inspire and encourage them about Younglife, and of course, they had a lot to teach us about Younglife, too. Those leaders love kids and will walk four hours ONE WAY to go find ONE kid; I have learned from these leaders how to selflessly love a teenager and be willing to lay down my life for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are excited to reflect on the time we had in Jenja and to get to ring in the New Year here in Pallisa. The Lord has been evident to us, and Simon keeps telling us are main goal is going to do what the Lord tells us to do. I know personally I am excited about what that is going to be!!

Loving Africa,
Turner Outlaw


You know you’re in Uganda when:
You don’t look twice when you see someone walking down the street carrying an AK-47.
People don’t use signals while driving and often drive down the middle of the road into oncoming traffic---or cows
You carry toilet paper with you everywhere in case you need to pop a squat
You have a layer of dirt coating your feet and you sorta like it
Power in the entire camp goes out when you (Reagan) try to charge your camera battery
When they say 30 minutes, it usually means at least an hour---it’s called “Africa Time”
Children wear tattered clothes, no shoes, and HUGE smiles (always)
Your host family builds a bathroom for you to use during your stay
You have an entire community come over to prepare meals and care for one another’s children
You don’t have the comforts of home (i.e. electricity or running water), but love every minute of it...

Love,
Dirty Haley Gage

P.S. Mom, tuition is due the 7th! THANK YOU!!!!!




T.I.A. This is Africa. You can buy roasted corn on the side of the streets. The leader James bought some on the street today from a lady, and we all enjoyed it as a snack as we traveled from Jinja to Pallisa. For me it was such a joy to be eating a familiar snack while letting the Ugandan sunshine and wind hit my face. The smells here enter my soul and remind me that God is faithful and the people are busy cooking. Uganda is very different than Tanzania, where I lived last year. The language is different. I keep trying to speak Swahili to children, but it doesn’t register. Some things are the same, like you can also carry petrol oil inside the bus. We were getting gas, and the driver just put two containers inside the car. All the while I could hear my mom’s words “Never put a container of gas inside your car. It is very dangerous.” And then I remembered this is Africa. Anything can happen, and of course it was the necessary thing to do when there is no gas in Simon’s town, where we have just arrived. Now I am typing on this computer and in just in front of me there is a big cow, a little child wondering how this computer works, and the ladies of the house are preparing the food. We all are sitting here together in amazement. The child beside me is eating a kasava fruit. There is also a five year old girl holding her little infant sister. The cow just bellowed, and now I realize it’s actually a bull. Hm. Tonight we will celebrate the past year’s memories and the possibilities of the new year. I love it here. Yeah!

-Lauren Harper