Change of Venue Notice

It's looking like we might exceed the capacity of my parents home, so we have decided to move the Africa presentation to the Roanoke AC Church Fellowship Hall. Sorry for any confusion this may cause you. If you don't know where this is, just ask and I'll send you directions. Please still RSVP if you haven't already done so. It's not as critical anymore, but I would still like to have a rough estimate. As a reminder, here are the details:

Who: anyone who is interested in hearing about my Uganda trip, especially anyone who supported me
What: presentation on my experiences, pictures, videos, artifacts, etc

When: Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 7:30pm
Where: Roanoke AC Church Fellowship Hall

Blessings,
Jeremy

Uganda Presentation Night Scheduled

Greetings friends and family,

I've settled on Saturday, July 19 as the day I'd like to put on a presentation and appreciation night for all of my Uganda trip supporters. I'd like to begin at 7:30. I'm asking for RSVPs so that I can settle on a venue. Tentatively, my parents plan on hosting it at their house in Roanoke. If the attendance looks to be too large, we may decide to relocate. If this happens, I'll inform everyone via email.

I want you all to know that this night is specifically for you. I want to give you all the opportunity to see and hear (and even smell, taste, and feel) what my experiences were like in Uganda. As much as I want you all to come, I completely understand and will not be offended if you are unable to attend. I'm certainly willing to share my experiences with anyone on an individual basis also.

In review, here are the details:
Who: anyone who is interested in hearing about my Uganda trip, especially anyone who supported me
What: presentation on my experiences, pictures, videos, artifacts, etc
When: Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 7:30pm
Where: Ken and Kathy Hodel's house - 606 N 3rd St, Roanoke, IL (unless otherwise specified)
Also, please assist me and répondez s'il vous plaît by email. I would like to know your plans regardless of whether they are affirmative or negative. If we're going to have a big turn out, we might have to move, which is no problem, but I want to know ahead of time so that I can let everyone know.

I hope to see you all next weekend!

Wrap-up

Well, I'm home. My departure and finally my arrival home was one of those surreal experiences. I kept having to convince myself that it was really over and I was going home. It was really hard to say goodbye, but it was actually less emotional than I expected. Probably the most emotional part was at the eMi going away party and when I was climbing the stairs to board the plane. My ascent was like in slow motion or something, "N-0-0-0-0-0-0-0! I can't be leave already!"

But in spite of my hesitancy about going home, I was sure looking forward to returning and beginning the next phase in my life (more on that later).

Before I left, I had some cool experiences. I got one last shot at authentic Ugandan food when I was invited to a pastor's house to eat with his family on Sunday afternoon. It was delicious! You may recall me writing about the difficulty I had with dealing with the crippled people on the streets of Kampala. It's been a major issue of conscience, but I never really knew what to do. Saturday I had a neat experience. I had a little free time in the afternoon, so I went downtown, bought some roasted corn and bananas and start looking for recipients. The ironic thing was, the one time I was intentionally trying to find them, they all seemed to be M.I.A. Finally, I was able to distribute the goods, and everyone received them warmly. I tried striking up conversations, but they all had very broken English, at best. Afterwards I was trying to figure out why I hadn't thought of that earlier. It was one of my most rewarding experiences while I was in Uganda. Granted, I had been in Jinja for the past few months, so I didn't really have an opportunity, but still it would have been a really cool thing to get in the habit of doing on a weekly basis or something. Maybe next time...

I'm working on getting a date to have some sort of presentation about my internship. It's been great to share it with you over the wire (or wave) but I look forward to sharing more with you in person. I'll let you all known when I figure it out.

I'm gonna take one last chance to say thank you. I'm still overwhelmed by the magnitude of the support that you all have shown me. Let me close in expressing my prayer for you all:

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Eph 1:16-21)

Changing Gears

That's me receiving a gift from Arise Africa's assistant director, Lilian. Wonder what it was? You'll have to wait and see.

I could give you the details of my experiences during my last week in Jinja, but quite honestly I'm getting a little tired of writing about them and I suspect you're getting tired of reading about them too.

Since this is gonna be my last post from Uganda, I'll do some reflecting instead. To summarize the heart of my midterm reflections from my April 4 post, at that time I was concerned about slipping into a comfortable and pleasant leisurely state of existence, which from the outside looked great and was sure to impress people ("hey, did you hear Jeremy's in Uganda? Wow!") but in reality was completely empty. I could feel the gravity from the black hole of self pulling me in that direction. However, I think God answered my prayers, giving me just the transition I needed to stay outside the event horizon (in keeping with the black hole analogy). While I loved my time when I was here in Kampala and wouldn't trade it for anything else if given the chance, I think God used my time in Jinja and Bukaleba to teach me, grow me, and challenge me a lot more. Not surprisingly, then, I would absolutely say my time during the second half of my internship had more difficulties - more uncomfortable situations, more problems, more struggles. Indeed, it seems these are just the circumstances which are most conducive to spiritual growth (Jam 1:2-4). So, I guess to bring some closure to my midterm reflections, I thank God that he did effectively pull me away from complacency, giving me an atmosphere of new challenges to face. I'm not saying that complacency wasn't still a struggle, but on the whole the latter part of my internship was a significant improvement from the first part.

At the thank you/going away tea party AAI held for me on Thursday, 0ne comment made by someone from the AAI staff really stuck with me. Ever since then, I've been pondering the passage in Luk 12:48b: "Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more." If there's one thing that I've learned from being in Uganda (certainly there are many things I've learned here), it is that I've been given much. I've been given much material wealth. I've been given much education. I've been given much ability. I've been given much skill. I really hope that doesn't sound proud, because I only want to acknowledge the blessings God has endowed to me. Just like Abraham, I've been blessed, but God has (as he did with Abraham) a greater purpose than simply blessing me. I've been blessed to be a blessing (Gen 12:1-3).

As I leave Africa (at least for now :)), I want to hold on to that lesson. The expectations are high. I can't say I didn't have the opportunity, the education, the ability, or the skill. God has given me all of these generously. It's now a matter of putting them to good use. This chapter of my life is coming to a close, but it's only a transition to the next. What that will be and how it will look I don't know, but I do know that I've got a calling and purpose to fulfill.

I'll probably add another post after I arrive home to wrap everything up (still got two days left here) but it's not going to hurt to say this twice: THANK YOU! Thanks to all of you who joined me in this amazing journey. It has been such a privilege to be the person on this side of the keyboard, getting to experience it all first hand. I hope you benefited from the ride as much as I have. I don't have to hope that you were able to contribute. That much is already given. Thanks so much for all of your support whether it be through finances, prayer, or encouragement. While for this time, my position may have been in the spotlight, everyone played a essential role in making it happen.

I intend to host some sort of gathering to share some of my experiences, photos, videos, etc. sometime after I get home. You are all most definitely invited. As soon as the plans are made, I'll post it on this blog.