Christmas letters

Today (Saturday-November 23) we spent the day in the village with all of our sponsored kiddos. We were helping them write letters to their sponsors thanking them for their continued support and wishing them a merry christmas. Just as an FYI if you sponsor a kid please please take time to pray and thank The Lord for the people that help your children write to you. Let me tell you first hand it is NOT easy. We had an early start this morning and all crammed into our two vans and headed to the luwero district of Zirobwe. We had all been split up into teams to work with the different age groups. I was paired up with Christine that you met in my last blog and we had p.5 and p.6 so they were in upper middle school. Anytime we go out there is always exciting and today there was added excitement due to the fact that even though I knew it was going to be hard work that there was a blessing in disguise somewhere. So- as I am trying to working the positive- I put on my big girl skirt rolled up my sleeves and prepared for that patient endurance talked about in Hebrew 10. (; we were given a templet to work with and had children write out the best we could- some came back with perfectly structured letters while others took all day that is when your countenance begins to show. There were quite a few children that I had never met before but also some that are always hanging around the church.

I immediately ran into my African mom and she said Shananeee with a big smile on my face and hugged me a lot and then simply said, "I like you a lot" I do t know what it is about that phrase but the simplicity and straight forward aspect of it makes me so overjoyed. No big ordeal just straight to the point. I remembered I had a job so I got back to helping the kids write letters (so hard when you don't keep your focus) a few moments later Dora, Grace, and Jennifer were walking towards the church.( Those are my girls and mama lukas daughters.) so I saw them and ran to say hi! They all smiled and said hello I asked them about their week and just small talked and I said Ndi musanyufu okoba!!!! Which means I am so happy to be here to which they all look at each other and giggle because of the way I pronounce it or they think it's funny to watch a mzungu fail at luganda. I really feel at home here and I am learning little by little how to make small talk. The only problem I have come across is when I get to a point in the conversation where someone tries to keep talking to me in luganda and I have not a clue what they said so my default response is always, " Mmmhhhmm" with a big grin on my face. Lol. Probably not the smartest idea. I walked into the church with the girls and mom said something to her and Dora brought over the most beautiful gift I could ever receive and said here Shan this is from my mom. I was confused at first but Mama luka came over to me and told me she had made it as a gift for me. Literally my favorite people out there I am sure you already got that though.

When Christine and I were working with writing letters she had remembered to tell me that her dad had a garden out in Zirobwe and that she was bummed I couldn't meet him today and she sent Luka to go get some pineapples from her dads land. She explained that I loved pineapple Nyo Nyo Nyo (so so so much much much) ..he cam back with four HUGE pineapple. Not long after that a lot of the kids were done with letter writing so we handed out porridge and buttermilk rolls. I was still helping the older kids revise their letters and this is when I really started enjoying helping with letter writing. Each of the older kids sat around together and worked on their letters together as a community it was so sweet. They helped one another out when they were struggling and if someone wanted to give up or just not do it they began to encourage one another. It was an example and a reminder that is what the body of Christ should look like. It was a challenge to be looking for ways that I can connect with people this week and pray for those who are struggling.

New foods I tried today:
G nuts or ground nuts- they look like they have a peanut shell and you bite it open just like a peanut shell but they look like little mini brains inside of it they are soft and chewy and resemble the flavor of peanuts just slightly. Someone told me today that if you drink them with cold Mountain Dew that they are the best!
Berries: they call them strawberries and they look like grapes they taste nothing like either. (: Kennedy brought me a whole bag of them but then decided he wanted them back I was not at all offended

We are headed back in the morning for Sunday school and we will be working on the Christmas skit.

Be praying for our guesthouse and the necessary funding to come in for that. ALSO WE STILL ARE NEEDING FUNDING FOR OUR CHRISTMAS PARTY THAT IS SO CLOSE. If there is anyway you can be involved please contact me directly!! Continue to pray for our MST's, staff members, and volunteers as well as we finish up this years work. And may our break be a time of refreshment as well as a time of reflection of Gods grace I'm our life.

Also side note if you read this far: Thank you. Sometimes I ramble on like now but I know that someone somewhere is reading it may The Lord bless you in more ways than one!! (:

Uganda Shan aka Muwala Wamusumba

Update

What's New?
It has been a very long time since I have updated you on what is going on and for that I apologize. Things here in Uganda, Africa are going incredibly good at the moment but at the same time it comes with its own sets of trials. In the last couple weeks we have done a lot of resting and getting back into our normal routine from what we had been working with when the Ignis team was with us. Some weeks back we had a slight change in some of our staffers-some we're let go while others were added to the team: Christine- a super fun and energetic girls who loves to color coordinate everything and she is so stubborn her personality it a lot like mine and I have loved getting to know her in this short time she has worked here, Victor- he is our new PR who has a huge heart for The Lord and a great sense of humor always gives an encouraging word, Viola- our cook. Need I say more?! She is incredible as well and so humble, and lastly Rose who is our sponsorship coordinator she is soft spoken but also is very sweet. They have been a great addition to the team and I feel like they have been working with us since the beginning. Scott- one of the. UK leaders is still hanging out we us here working alongside Wilson and trying to get the Ebenezer primary school that is right next to our land out in Zirobwe. They are constantly working on meetings and any problems that arrive here in ground(please keep them in your prayers).

Have there been any new volunteers?

After the Ignis team left we had a girl arrive from the UK named Becky she had been studying to become a doctor and was just finishing up her pediatrics and we were able to clean wounds and pull Chiggers out that were in the village. She was very excited to share stories of her several other short term missions she had been on and share with me about her relationship with Christ and how her mission trips helped her spiritual growth. One thing that I learned from her was that everyone should be accepted and to always include others. She was a huge encouragement and an incredible source of joy in the mere two weeks that she had been there. Last Thursday the day Becky actually left we got a new volunteer from the states named Jose he is in his 30s works in real-estate and has travelled all over the world and decided it was time to give Africa a try he is here for two and a half weeks and is working hands on in the primary schools. The kids love listening to him talk since he is originally from Puerto Rico. Next week we have a girl named Amber who will be with us until December, a boy named David who will be here for 6 months, and one of. Hannah's friends is coming to see her!

What have your challenges been and how can we pray for you?

A couple things have been challenging me in the past couple weeks. First of all it seems like my energy is beginning to wear out. I don't have that same renewed strength day in and day out. It seems as if I am not as excited as I was when I first got here. Also some relationships with on the ground team that have been kind of bugging me. I knew there would be challenges but they were most definitely unforeseen ones in the beginning. God is working and doing big things in my own life though he has taught me the importance of spending time with him more and to be growing spiritually, to take time to meditate on the word in my free time and to not worry what others think or say about me, to remember to glorify God in any and every situation. I am still loving the village it is my favorite day of the week when Sunday comes around and I get to spend time with all of my favorite kids and mamas they seriously always shine the light of Christ no matter what the situation is. Continue to pray for our Christmas party we only have $150 out of the $2,000 we need so pray that the. Lord provides just like we know he always does.

How have you adjusted to the food? And have you found any sources of good snacks?

The food has been fine. It actually seems to get better and better. Sometimes it gets too much of the same thing and I want to eat something else ( that's where your incredible donations of snacks have come in). It's so nice when I haven't totally loved a meal or it gets boring to go grab some wheat thins or cookies that have come in a care package. Tuskys (the albertsons of Uganda) has all kinds of snacks and munchies definitely not the selection of home but it definitely has done the trick.

What is your favorite thing to eat/snack on?

Bounty (it's like a almond joy without the almond) bars and I actually have ventured out and eaten ground beef in a patti form and in a biscuit almost like a cheeseburger. The cheese here is very gross but our chef cuts up all kinds of veggies to go on it too yum!

Have you been homesick?

Yes, I miss my family A LOT ---BUT I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be. I am able to Skype with them often and what's app and FaceTime


Praying for you all often and so thankful for the Lords continued grace. I am that'll for today and hopeful for tomorrow. (:

Heartbroken Happy?

We used the Sunday school shelter for the first time today. It has been a work in progress for the past couple of weeks and today was the first Sunday we had Sunday school under it. For the past two months we have been using the primary school next door known as Ebenezer. The same school we teach at every so often and where a lot of our kids go to school. 'Mualawa musumba' means Daughter of a pastor -so that is what all the kids call me now instead of Shannen. After Sunday school Luke came to me and said would you walk to our home I have a gift for you. When we got to the house Luke went inside and came back with long sugar cane that was twice my height that he wanted to gift to me. He said "I want to you to have this I asked my mom yesterday." (Now what I didnt know-when I asked Joseph about it later is that Luke really wanted me to have one so he asked his mom if he personally could give me one and he would work to earn it) also that this is how they make a living, they sell sugar cane to pay for basic needs like food. It is such a huge blessing to give that they willingly give. Part of me wants to deny it when they give me gifts like that immediately and tell him to sell it for food but I never do for two reasons: 1) it is rude culturally 2) I could not not except a gift from their sweet faces. I thanked him with a 'Webale Nyo' (thank you very much). Jennifer was still upset so I picked her up and she was reluctant to have me hold her but I held on anyways and took her to the shade, gave her some water, and because we were quite a ways away from the church I pulled out a granola bar from my purse and split it between the kids- they hadn't eaten at all before then. They ate it so quick. We stood there for a short moment in silence when Luke piped up and said, "In which month do you leave?" When I told him March he replied quickly with "mom was wanting me to ask you if you would spend your christmas with us here in Zirobwe at our house." This is where my heart broke and I was so happy at the same time. They have little to offer but they wanted me to be with them for the holidays since I am not around my family. I explained that I was going to Kenya for a month over Christmas so I wasn't going to be around, but you bet I would be there with them if I was going to be here in Uganda. I asked them if they could have anything what would they want for Christmas their response says a lot about the condition and the culture that they are apart of here is a list of things that they told me: rice, matoke (cooked banana), chicken, soda, and beans. This is a part of every meal I have and this is the only thing that they asked for. I am planning on buying everything on that list and getting them each a present that they get to open. My heart breaks and is also so incredibly thankful for he love that this family shows to me every time I see them. Grace is the one that is so protective of me. Even when mom tries to hug me or sit with me she always pushes them off and says my shannenneee!! Instead of getting gifts this year I am going to give until I can't give anymore.

Zirobwe

Just got back from four days in the village and all I can say is that I cannot wait for EAC to move out there permanently. Tuesday we went out there in the evening and had chapattis and pineapple for dinner and set up our tents. We hung out with the kiddos until we started devos. Some of our kiddos stay for devotions and sing the songs with us. Sepha is our moody little lady-if you aren't giving her your full attention she is not happy. But she loves The Lord with her whole heart and it is so inspiring to see her sing the songs like "set a fire down in my soul that I can't control because I want to know you" it is super cute at such a young age. Wednesday i got up at about 5:40am just as the sun was getting up and the bright pinks and reds were coming up just as the big bright African sun was rising it is one of the most incredible sights to see. So beautiful. I wish words could describe how it actually looks. We got to teach at the primary school next door to the church called Ebenezer. We know most of the children that go there so it was fun to be able to interact with them on a whole new level. All the kids call me Madame when trying to get my attention. Wed- we worked on numbers 1-20 and made a poster with the spelling of each number we taught the kids to songs about numbers and had them come to the front of the classroom and point out individual numbers. After that was done around we went back over to the church where we had set up camp and had some lunch. We have pineapple everyday and I am so loving it. Rest time/free time was until 3:30 we could spend some time just laying down in our tents or play with the kids. There are always kids hanging around even when you tell them all to go. I. The evening we ran a program with the kids and played games with them. We have devotions as a team in the evening and there are a particular few that stay around and sit through a devotion even if they don't get through the whole thing. Then it is time to say goodnight (my least favorite part of the day). Our generator stays on until 10:00pm and then it gets pretty dark in there. There a fireflies that are all around and flashes of lightning that are so incredible. Thursday we did the same thing only we worked on ABCs with the kiddos. It was HOT inside and out there was no way to escape the heat. In the afternoon when we were playing soccer with the kids it started to rain and then it started to pour and we all just stood out there ion the rain and got muddy and soaking wet it was so fun.We have a volunteer named Tim here right now from Haiti and he has been teaching English to the people in the village. After his night class he decided to let a Japanese lantern into the sky so everyone gathered around there were probably 30 of us around and my sweet Grace jumped right into my arms and looked up as the lantern floated to the sky - it felt like a scene from the movies it's hard to even put into words. Her mom who speaks little to no English walked up to me and said, "I like you a lot" a small phrase that made a. Huge impact-something that will stay with me forever. Friday we taught in the morning packed up camp and then headed back home.

Now on a side note I just want to tell you a little bit or a lot bit about my favorite family.
Luca- he is the dad very hard working and always involved with what's going on at the church he knows zero English
The wife- I'm not sure of her name but she always has Jennifer on her back and works super hard in manual labor as well. Always has a smile on her face
Shakira- (sponsored) about 14 and she smiles so wide and always wants to know how I am doing
Rita-(sponsored) her sponsors pay for her to go to school in Kampala an hour and a half away from the family I haven't met her yet.
Luke 11-(sponsored) my first favorite kid in the village one of the kindest boys you will ever meet. Always one of the first to greet me when we get to the village. The reason I met this whole family
Joseph 8-(sponsored) the crazy one of the group-always getting into so etching but he loves to play with my hair and cares about you.
Dorine or most people call her Dora- I am going to sponsor her. She is shy until you get her talking and then she is silly
Grace- I don't have much to say about grace except that I love her so much and words can't describe how much I want to bring her home with me.
Jennifer- still only about 10 months old and she is very shy

Such a big family but I feel like I can relate to them. I am so excited to spend the next five months growing closer to them. It makes me nervous though for March.

Half of the UK team arrived with the group from Ignis a design company and they are here to build a cattle shed. I am excited to get to know each and everyone of them. It's going to new crazy couple of weeks. Today we are headed to the village again to show them what our vision for EAC is and show the. What they will be working on while they are here. Also we are going to be doing some house visits where we will be talking to families and then praying with them as well.

Keep us in your prayers because this group of people don't have a relationship with Christ. Also keep the Ebenezer school in your prayers the teachers are very poor and some of the kids don't learn very well. Also there are several headmasters at local schools who are molesting young girls and here there is not much that can be done about that. We have children here who are sick so pray for them. It's cold season here just like home only it is really hot here!!!

October 12, 2013 4:23 PM

October 12, 2013 4:23 PM

It has been a whole month since the time I have arrived in Africa and I am still totally in love with ALL of it! Wednesday it was Uganda's Independence Day- so we had a quiet day. We spent the morning at a high school performing a skit, telling the kids why we had come to Africa & sharing about EAC. We made chapattis (thick tortillas) with pizza sauce and bananas for lunch and watched movies all afternoon while we rested for Thursday. For dinner we had French toast.Yum. Thursday morning before we started packing Scott (one of our leaders from UK) led an amazing devotion where we all spent time in worship and just meditating on the word of God. It was so refreshing. We got all packed up to spend the night in the village and headed out. The village it about 50 miles away from the compound so it takes a good hour me a half to get there. We went to a primary school in the village called Christ's ambassador- I shared the bible story of the banquet. We finished early and after the kids aphid asked me questions about the bible I let them ask me questions about America they all wanted to know about NASA and politics: two things I have no interest in. We arrived at the church and set up camp inside the church all in tents. Lizards and spiders are all over the place and grasshoppers- HUGE ones. Once the children see our van they all start slowly making their way over to see us. They ALL ask me to bring them Footballs (soccer balls). Immediately we always see out two kiddos that live next door Sepha and Kennedy. They are both so sweet. Not long after that Alex and Luke made their way over to say hi. We walked down the road to the town center collecting kiddos all along the way yelling Jangu (meaning come) our small following quickly becomes much larger. (; we ran a program there where I was able to share the story of Samson and Delilah - I had some of the other volunteers act it out which makes a whole world of difference. It was so fun and the kids loved it! We got back to camp and had chapattis. Thursday night after dinner we had a time of worship and devotion and my dad had sent me an outline for a devotion on Broken things in scripture. I was nervousness because I was unsure how much sense I was making to the team. Especially after the long day we had just had. God was quick to erasure me though- someone on the team came to me not long after that and shared how he was going through a time of brokenness and how he was unsure how god could use him. It was such a good reminder to me to be open to sharing what I am learning in scripture and how God can use it in my life. Night time in the village is more incredible than words can describe. There are fireflies every sphere the light up the area around the church we even had one that got caught in our tent in the middle of the night. It started to rain and it rained HARD- harder than I have ever heard before and it was on and off all night. We were up at 6:30 am to begin manual labor. We slashed all morning-my arms and lower back are so sore. But it is totally worth it. Today we had a bunch of kiddos here for a party and made them lunch bought them sodas, and launched a Japanese lantern in the sky to signify them moving on to a new grade. Tomorrow we have Sunday school in the village and we have two girls coming who have been here in Uganda for a month with a different organization. Monday is our day off and then back to the village from Tuesday to Friday. Friday is the day that the big UK team comes. I am excited to have lots of people filling up our house. I will keep you posted. (:

P.s. Thank you to everyone who has given my parents money and snacks to send me. I a, so thankful for each and everyone of you.

Another crazy week here at EAC Uganda!! Saturday we were able to sleep in a. Bit and then we headed over to a scripture union party. There were hundreds of high school aged kids who were there to support all of the scripture union leaders who were passing on leadership to incoming kiddos. We next and presented a skit, handed out gift to some of the outstanding leaders, and even was invited on the stage to dance. It was so funny-I was sitting next to another MST from Colorado and she said, " hey wouldn't it be funny if we went up there and joined them" and minutes later one of the students came over to us grabbed my hand and away we went to join them in their dancing....excepts for my friend. (: After the performance we quickly tried to exit the building and were caught!!! The leaders insisted that we stick around to have a bite to eat to show their appreciation...Dylan, Myleigh, Hannah, and I all were very nervous to see what was being served. But here in Uganda it is very rude to turn down food so we had to eat what they gave us and all of it too. So we encouraged and in fact implied that we wanted a very small amount since we had already eaten at the compound. They set up chairs, brought us water, and told us to get comfortable. The plate had two cups of rice and two cups of cooked cabbage(which has made me sick nice I got here and I really cannot eat) a chunk of fried chicken complete with bones and hair and a small potato. I scarfed down as much of the rice as I could and the potato and realize we were coming to a problem all of girls began to exchange looks and facial expressions as to what we are going to do. We ended up finding a small boy from the area and added all of our cabbages and rice and chicken on a plate and he are it all. (:

Sunday we went to Zirobwe again and ran Sunday school. I got to spend time with these three boys and they told me all about what they want to do with their lives when they grow up and asked all kinds of questions about America and all about my family. Alex is a sweetheart him and his little brother stayed after Sunday school and wanted to just play with my hair. Alex wants to become a lawyer and go to college in America. Next is Eddy- he has a sponsor from America whom he loves so much. Eddy tries to act like a to cool for Sunday school kind of a kid but he is such a kind boy who has so many questions he wants to marry a muzungoo. And lastly is Luke who has a younger sister that holds his hand and follows him wherever he goes. Luke wants to become a Doctor.

Monday was our day off because usually Saturday is our day off but we were obviously busy... The girls and I spent two hours doing laundry and hanging them up all over the backyard we filled up all of the clothes lines and then we lined them up all on the barbed wire...bad bad bad idea!!!!! A huge rain storm rolled in and we were outside pulling everything off of the line hoping everything was not going to get wet again. It was actually kind of fun...even though we were all soaked by the time we were done. We also had two guys who run the UK office come in yesterday Dave and Scott is ther names and they are super funny. It's always nice to have fresh faces in the house. We had a planning meeting at 3:00pm and then later made yummy desserts. Ended the night with some DUTCH BLITZ.

Today we went to New brainstorm and handed out bibles to all of the children. They were so excited. We ran the program and Dylan and I lead the worship songs: I love you Jesus, father Abraham, every move I make, Yesu newangu, and JOY!!!! We came home for 22 minutes to get some food and then off to the next project. We went to another high schools scripture union and met two kiddos Sharon and Winne- they asked me what my thought on America were....lol. On the way home we hit another car and it broke the other guys break light and scraped up our van pretty bad. But all in a days work.

On a side note I totally love sitting next to the window in the van- it never gets old. Everyone smiles or glares or waves or sticks their tongue out it is really amusing. Still loving every minute.