Hello! On my page here, I would like to answer questions that people have asked me as we travel to different churches on our furloughs. I hope this will give you a better idea of what it's like living in Uganda and how to better pray for our family and other missionary families.
"Was it difficult getting used to a new country?"
Very difficult at first! During my first days in Uganda I entered the strange thing missionaries call "culture shock." I had not taken a survey trip as my husband grew up in Uganda so I had no idea what the country was like, or what I was getting myself into! All I knew is that the Lord wanted us here - so here I was!
"What are some of the things that were difficult for you?"
I couldn't understand the people (even when they were speaking English!) And they couldn't understand me! Our English is very different from their English, so many days I dreaded talking to people or having them talk to me. I soon became used to their English and have (almost) no trouble these days!
Other things that were difficult was learning to cook in a foreign country...learning to drive on the left side of the road...learning to dodge bikes and the many people walking on the roads....sleeping under a mosquito net to keep out mosquitoes and worrying about the ones that managed to sneak in anyway...making sure my children stayed under their net all night...learning that the guard just killed a green mamba in our yard...worrying about malaria...being rudely awakened at 2am to the sounds of gunshots on the other side of town...listening to rock music from the local bar til 5am...waking up to the Muslim prayer call...deciding to take a walk only to return to the house with a following of 50 curious children who have never seen a white baby before...worrying about thieves...feeling badly on soulwinning when children ran away screaming because I was the first white woman they had ever seen...turning away from all the begging hands asking for money while passing out tracts...getting used to frequent power outages....
It took me awhile to get used to it all and some days I still have "culture days", but God has given me a love for the people and this country and I'm so thankful I "stuck" through it all, so God can use us here in Uganda!
"What is shopping like in Uganda? Do you have a Walmart?
I wish!! Or anything close to a Walmart! We go to the capital city (a 4 hour drive) once every few months to stock up on things like meat, cheese, butter, and other food items. We are blessed in that the capital now has a couple of nice supermarkets! Prices can be 3-4 times more expensive than stateside many times, especially on things that are imported such as canned goods and cereals, so we try to do without those things. We have a milkman who brings us our milk, which I then pasteurize. We have a local market that sells fresh fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, green peppers, onions, eggplant, okra, carrots, papaya, pineapple, lemons, mangoes, watermelon, bananas,etc. Our children love the tiny sweet bananas in Uganda and refuse to eat "American" bananas!
"What do you eat in Uganda?"
We eat American food most of the time. We don't have the convenience to run to the stores just for anything, or order in a pizza, or even drive through a fast food restaurant. We can't buy mixes (like pancake mix, etc) so I spend a lot of my time cooking meals and cooking ahead for busy days. Tortillas, hamburger buns, bagels, pita bread, granola cereal, pizza dough, pancake syrup, cookies, barbecue sauce, salad dressings,homemade ice cream, etc. are some of the things that I make. I enjoy cooking and teaching my 3 girls to help me out!
"What are the people like in Uganda?"
Very friendly! Each time I have had a baby in Uganda, our church people visit me with gifts of food and things for the baby. They don't have much, but are very generous. When Andrew goes to the village to preach, he comes home with everything from chickens, peanuts, rice, beans, and even just a couple eggs carefully wrapped up in paper to keep from breaking. Their generosity is humbling.
"How do your children adjust to living in Uganda?"
Our children have spent almost their entire lives in Uganda, so it's really all they know! They love the people (even asking some of them if they could go on furlough with us!), the food and the culture. They especially love the African tea called chai (recipe below). They have adapted well to the culture, always remembering to remove their shoes before entering someone's home and greeting adults while kneeling down, as all little Ugandan girls do.
African Chai
1 cup sugar
5 tea bags
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp tea masala, optional
1 quart water
1 quart milk
In 2 quart saucepan, combine sugar, tea bags, vanilla, masala and water.
Bring to a boil. Add milk and heat through.
"What are some things your kids enjoy in America?"
their Nana and Papa.....McDonald's Playland.....going to the zoo.....the library.....snow!
"What do you enjoy most about being missionaries in Uganda?"
The closeness of our family. There are few distractions in Uganda. We don't run around shopping or on various activities. Life is very slow. Because of safety reasons we usually have our family home before dark, which is always at 7pm. So we have the evening to spend time together doing puzzles, reading books, singing or just sitting in a power-less house roasting marshmallows over candles and playing hide and seek in the dark with flashlights!
"What are some specific things we can pray about for you or your family?"
*that all our children will be saved
*that we will stay close to the Lord
*for me to have wisdom in training my children and be the wife and mother that God wants me to be so Andrew can do what he needs to do in the ministry
*for protection and good health while living overseas