Flat Stanley Comes to Uganda!

One of my teammates received Flat Stanley in the mail from her cousin and we all pitched in to give him a wonderful Mbale welcome! Here are some photos documenting Flat Stanley’s visit with us. If you don’t know who Flat Stanley is, ask your nearest early childhood educator!

(We made sure that Flat Stanley had a nice bed complete with a mosquito net so that he wouldn't get attacked by mosquitoes at night.)

(He came to love the tasty treat that is milk in a box!)

(Flat Stanley with James and Noeli Luchivya eating bread and drinking chai.)

(Flat Stanley came to our office staff meeting on Tuesday morning and shared thoughts with Peace, Judith and Jennifer.)

(Flat Stanley with Heidi and I enjoying some coffee before the office staff meeting.)

(Flat Stanley was very helpful during his stay with us. He helped sort through the stacks of books that are being cataloged for the MTI library.)

(When the books were ready to be shelved, Flat Stanley helped put the MTI stamp on them.)

(He even worked on his alphabetizing skills and helped organize the card catalog!)

(Flat Stanley borrowed Becca's phone when they were working in the library. Maybe he was calling home to tell them what a good time he was having!)

(Flat Stanley wanted to help me with my work at the office. He is a very talented little fellow!)

(He also helped me make copies of materials for office day in the print room.)

(When Flat Stanley was helping in the print room he found this really old pair of glasses and wanted to take a goofy picture.)

(Flat Stanley has such a servant heart! He volunteered to sweep the floors!)

(We were all amazed to find out that Flat Stanley could read the Kalenjin New Testament!)

(Flat Stanley was eager to learn about the AIDS Orphans program and enjoyed reading about the children that are being sponsored.)

(He also helped Peace distribute medication to those who needed it.)

(Flat Stanley thought the flowers at MTI were very beautiful.)

(Michael showed Flat Stanley how to be a guard at MTI.)

(Flat Stanley wanted to learn how to drive a motorcycle, but we didn't think it was such a great idea.)

(We thought about letting him drive the truck, but he couldn't see over the steering wheel, so we didn't think that was such a great idea either.)

(This was Flat Stanley's first experience with public transportation here in Mbale. He had to hold on tight when riding the boda boda because he is so small and light!)

(These kind ladies helped Flat Stanley learn to pump water from a well.)

(Flat Stanley visited the Mbale Mission School and made some great new friends!)

(He enjoyed swinging at recess.)

(He also thought that the sand boxes were lots of fun.)

(Flat Stanley loves bananas!)

(Even in Africa, there is "Always Coca-Cola!")

(Flat Stanley on a "Power Off Night".)

(Flat Stanley was excited to take a picture with the map of Uganda so that he could show his friends back home where he had been!)

We all thoroughly enjoyed Flat Stanley's visit to Uganda and we hope that he had a safe trip home!

I Like This Billboard

This is one of my favorite billboards that I've seen here. It is up all over the place and so I finally took a picture of it. It is for a cell phone company, but I just really like the picture. If you can't tell, each of the boats have a different flag painted on them (Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania). I just think it's cool and wanted to show you all!

MTI Graduation

Today was the sixth annual graduation ceremony at Messiah Theological Institute. There are two levels of certification that can be received from MTI (Basic and Advanced). This is the first year that there have been students with enough Advanced credits to receive the Advanced Certificate! There were 23 total graduates (13 Basic and 10 Advanced). I was able to help create and put together the certificates that the graduates received and the programs for the ceremony. I also got to help pass out caps and gowns to all of the graduates before the ceremony. There was so much excitement in the air that I just couldn't stop smiling. It was a wonderful day of celebration! Praise God for this school and for the Christian leaders that are being raised up because of it!

(Advanced Certificate graduates waiting to enter)

(Basic Certificate graduates)

(Noeli Luchivya recieved an Advanced Certificate. She and her husband James are missionaries from Kenya and are a part of our team.)

(This is Herbert. He is one of the Rural Counselors and he also works with me to distribute printed material to those that come to our office days.)

(Advanced Certificate Graduates)

(Basic Certificate Graduates)

(2006 MTI Graduates)

(Judith and I after graduation. Judith works with me up at MTI. I am very blessed to know and work with her.)

I.R.T. - The Home Stretch

The original plan had been to drive all the way to Kampala, stay the night, and go the rest of the way to Mbale the next day. However, since we had decided to go craft shopping that morning, we got a later start than planned and only went as far as Mbarara. It turned out being a fun change in plans though, because we got to have dinner with the ladies on the Mbarara team and spend some wonderful time visiting with them. They are all wonderful women and since they are so far away, we don’t get to spend much time with them other than at the quarterly meetings.

We got an early start the next morning to drive all the way back to Mbale. Here are some photos of our last day on the road!

(saw zebra on the side of the road!)

(we also saw several different kinds of D.L.A -Deer Like Animals)

(some quick photos as we crossed back into the Northern Hemisphere)

(a beautiful rainbow in the sky when we were almost home)

We were all tired and glad to be home, but wow, what an incredible journey!

I.R.T. - Kigali, Round Two

After returning from the Congo, we checked out of our hotel and headed back to Kigali. We visited the genocide memorial and spent a few hours (but I could have spent longer) looking at photos and reading about the events that took place. It was hard to read about all that happened, but I was glad that we went.

We met back up with the teachers later, they showed us around their school and then we and went with them to a Bible study. I really enjoyed the Bible study. It's always neat to worship and study with people from different cultures. That evening we had dinner with the teachers and the Luz family. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and getting to know them and their ministry better. The next day was our last day in Rwanda. We got an early start so that we could do some craft shopping before we started our journey home. After a quick lunch with the teachers we loaded up the truck were on our way again.