Joys of the Animal Kingdom

One of the unique things about Uganda is the many different animals, specifically birds, that we have run into. There are the "I want to eat your children" birds--the Ugandans say when these birds squawk it sounds as if they are saying, "I WANT TO EAT YOUR CHILDREN!!!" Then there are the adorable little brown birds, that look like sparrows but the size of huming birds and have bright cobalt blue bellies.

Then there are the storks.

From day #1 we have been absolutely blown away by the presence of storks. They are everywhere. And, they are ridiculously large. When on the ground they stand about as tall as the average American 8yr. old child. We were originally very confused as to why the presence of storks even exists in Uganda, as we assumed them to be the type that dwell near oceans--not in countries surrounded by land. However, our dear friend Ivan pointed out they are here due to Lake Victoria. Usually, we are very humored by the storks. We enjoy watching them, perhaps chasing them, and are daily enamored by their ability to sit 12 at a time in a tree without causing the tree to collapse branch by branch beneath their weight. Today, however, we were not so amused by said storks.

Today while walking under stork-infested trees-- the storks decided it was about that time, to take a poo. That's right. We were poo'ed on. By our beloved storks. DIS-GUSTING. So as we sit in the internet cafe which is currently crammed with people meaning we may get kicked off at any given moment, we are covered in bright green bird crap and smell horrendously.

We have also encountered predator-like animal today--called man. Today while at our "spot", which is Baka's store where we purchase soda and sit and chat, Stacie was approached by a very friendly Ugandan man. He took a seat next to her, or facing her rather, straddling the bench and proceeded to profess his undying love for her. Rather, he interrogated her as to why she was wearing a wedding band when she clearly was not married. Stacie insisted over and over again that she indeed is married, and even callaed her 'husband' in the states to prove so. However, the man was unrelentless. Almost in tears, he continued to question, demanding a certificate of marriage. Finally, he gave up the good fight--his very last parting words, in near tears, "I LOVE YOU."

Ohhhhh the joys of Uganda.

On a more spiritual note. . . We are learning much about the power of the Spirit. It is often times that as Christians we tend to ask God for certain characteristics--such as "God, please grant me strength," or peace or endurance or whatever else. It is as if God has all of these qualities and we expect Him to kindly hand them to us in small servings whenever needed. Not so. Because the Holy Spirit lives in us--He indwells us--we ARE those things! We are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, etc. etc. So rather than praying, "God grant me patience. . ." We should instead be asking, "God, please help me to recognize the patience that I already have."

Good stuff :) God is continuing to grow and stretch us both as He slowly reveals His plan and will for our time here in Uganda. It is so exciting to learn of what power we have thru Him /His Spirit!

Thank-You Jesus for storks and crazy men and the power of your Spirit.

Come here you rich white person!!

Living in Uganda is very different from living in the United States. Reason #1 being there is only one season. Locals say that there are two seasons, a wet season and a dry season. But being from a country that has four distinct seasons, it is difficult to distinguish between the two seasons and we like to just call the one season HOT. Because that is just what it is...HOT. However, even with it being dreadfully hot, there is always a very nice cool breeze so we rarely ever sweat. Not sweating is definately positive about the breeze, the downside of that is when we are wearing a shirt without sleeves, we get burnt easily without realizing that we are burning. And that is what has happened, we are very burnt, so pray for healing of the burns!!!

Reason #2 for it being different is that you walk outside of your house and clap your hands and a "boda, boda" (which is a little mo-ped type bike) comes flying down the street knocking down all the other drivers who are trying to come up to you. These nifty drivers will get you to point A to point B in no time...but you gotta watch out because they like to raise the prices at times.

Reason #3 is that everywere we go, we are noticed. We mean we know we are good looking and all, haha, but seriously, the whole town stops and stares. Often times they hollar out Oh-lee-oh-tee-ya Mzungu. Translation- "How are you rich white person" Our response being Jhen-dee Moo-doo-gah-voo. Translation "Very fine you black person" We think that it may be offensive to call them black people, but who gives them right to call us rich white people :-)

AmyRose is going to get hit by a vehicle sometime soon. Which isn't good because Stacie says that she needs to walk faster because if she gets hit, we are not paying for it and if a leg is broken, we will just have to tape it up with our first aid kit. AmyRose thinks that is ridiculous. :-)

We are registering as an NGO tomorrow. It will be really nice because then we can start on the orphanage. We have found a house that is huge. It has nine bedrooms, three bathrooms, a huge dining area and a servants quarters hooked onto the house. It has rich soil for growing crops and a nice yard for play. It has a three car garage that could be turned into a three room school-the garage is HUGE!! The house is also on the beach side and if the house is purchased than we would have part of the beach property as well. This would be perfect for the future because if you have beach property than you can set up a buisiness on the property and teach the orphans how to run a buisiness as they get older in the orphanage. We feel like God is giving us big plans. So be praying for these plans. The total cost of the house is going for $355,000...so be praying that the funds will come in if that is what the Lord is wanting. We feel like it is since we are really not cool enough to come up with all that God has put on our hearts. Thank you again for all of your support..without it, it would have been difficult getting here!! love you all!!