Lions for Lambs

Are movie theatres in Uganda? Yes, and as any normal westerner would do we went to the newest feature playing, “Lions for Lambs.” And no it was not about lions but the American social and political atmosphere of today.

Tom Cruise plays a prideful senator who is telling Meryl Streep, a reporter, the American governments next strategic plan for winning the war on terror. While this is happening in Washington D.C. Robert Redford, a political science professor in California, is doing his best to get the future leaders of America to use their lives to make a difference for good. The last thread to this movie follows the story of two former students of Redford’s who were trying to make a difference. But as minorities from poor families saw their best option as going for a GI bill to continue their education and signed up in the army.

There were no real surprises in the plot in fact it ended quite abruptly with no real resolution. This movie forces you to think about the uncomfortable things about our culture. It challenges our use of media and how much of an influence we let it have in our lives and country. It also makes you contemplate the American dream of continually gaining for a more comfortable life while you turn a blind eye to the world or even your own community that is in need and hurting. It inspires you to question government decisions and whether or not you agree or disagree, to get involved for the greater good.

The title is made reference to by a quote in the movie. They use it as metaphor indicating that the people fighting a battle are the lions and often their leaders are nothing but lambs.

We would encourage you to see this film. The questions that come up in your mind while watching are worth thinking about.

Anyone up for a Vegemite sandwich?

Well we’re on to plan C, move to Brisbane Australia. It’s really been quite the process to get to this point but we feel strongly that this is what God is leading us into. So a quick review of the path we took to get to where we are now.
Sold everything. Moved to Malawi for a job. Got to Malawi no job. Moved to Uganda for potential job. Got to Uganda found out job was not a good fit. In Uganda praying about why we are in Uganda and what’s next. Feel like God is leading us to move to Brisbane. And now you are up to speed and as of now we are just waiting on a few details but we will fly out on the 23rd of December. We’ll have Christmas Eve in Dubai as a lay over and arrive in the beautiful country of Australia on Christmas morning. I guess you could say we took the scenic route to get to Australia but there you have it.
Actually, some of you might have known this, but our original plan after working in Malawi for three years was to move to Australia for Graduate school. So as we said we are bumping up the plan a bit and moving on with it now. Since Rachel is a citizen of Australia things are a bit easier for her in the move and she will start working and hopefully start school in the middle of 2008 if things go as planned. She wants to study International Political Development in hopes to someday work with governments and the UN to advocate for the developing world. Joel on the other hand has to work out visa stuff a bit first but will probably be able to work a little at first until he can become a permanent resident. But his dream is to become a writer and in the future write novels but for now work on getting articles published.
We both have learned so much in the past few years with our travels and studies. Specifically on this trip we have been seeking the lessons that God wants us to learn. First of all we know now more than ever that God is faithful. He has provided for us this whole time and we are so grateful. Second we have a little clearer picture what we want to be doing and what we don’t want to be doing with our lives. Third we have discovered that we love living in other countries but we think God is calling us back to our own cultures (well Rachel’s at least) for now to advocate for people in developing countries. Everyone likes simple answers, especially when it comes to poverty. We want to be able to feel good about ourselves by seeing some tangible result from our simple solutions. Unfortunately this attitude has literally plagued the developing world and still is today. The answer to poverty is multi-faceted and extremely complex. Our simplistic mindset has to change if we truly care about our poor neighbors. Therefore,we want to advocate for justice in the third-world not merely charity. We want to stop wasteful aid that creates dependency and doesn’t help them stand on their own two feet. We want to change political and economic policies that favor the rich in the west and ignore the plight of the poor. Lastly we want to provide an example of simple living, not to be copied by others, but to challenge the Western consumer mindset and live a life of necessity, contentment and generosity. We’ve learned a lot from this trip and obviously have a long way to go, but we must all do what we can, and this is what we feel called to.

P.S. We are extending an invitation for anyone to come visit and stay with us in Australia. We know a beach paradise is more enticing to visit, than an impoverished African country☺

What the heck is CHOGM???

CHOGM- the gathering of over 5000 commonwealth heads of State from all over the world, including the Queen, shaking hands in appointed country. This year it was Uganda.
To the locals, CHOGM- Cheap Holiday On Government Money.
To us, CHOGM- stuck in the empty house for three days. ☺
We discovered that our Aussie neighbors here have wireless internet and if we sit in the garden close enough to the wall we can connect, when it’s working☺ (of course they said we could use it) This and our movie collection really carried us through these three days of solitary confinement.
Lately we have been applying for jobs everyday and pray that one of them will work out. Both of us have experienced the pains of months of job hunting but somehow that desperate time is enhanced when in a third world country with no familiar faces around or real prospects.
Last nights dinner was a HUGE blessing! We were able to get into town for the first time and go grocery shopping. The isles of this westernized market were a “candy store” for us kids. We appropriated sliced ham, salt bread, Pringles, and a head of lettuce we both were praying would not make us sick again. That night we sat down to a feast of ham sandwiches and Sour Cream and Onion Pringles. We both ate one and a half; with bellies completely bloated we went to bed fully satisfied. Today we are anticipating the same for lunch, oh the simple pleasures of life.
Sadly this is our update, we hope it has not disappointed. Joel has been researching the different styles of writing. There are two different paths a writer can take. Either the content of his/her writing must be interesting enough to hold the readers interest or the writer must, with their use of words, attempt to make the content seem interesting enough for the reader to continue. We are hoping for the later because in the last week have discovered that although we are in a fascinating country our lives here in fact are not. :)

In all seriousness, please continue to pray for us as we expect big things from the Lord. We believe we are here for a reason and that the perfect thing will open up in God's timing.

The Deep Sea

Well, we live in a palace now. At least that’s what it feels like compared to our cozy, one-bedroom, house back in Newberg. We’ve attached a picture of it and yes that actually is where we are living. If there is any doubt you might be able to pick out Rachel on the porch though she appears very small.
About two weeks ago, we contacted our only contact in Kampala to see if we could go to church with him and his family. They go to an International church that Rachel had attended when she was in Kampala a year earlier. They agreed to take us and at church we met a South African couple who were leaving the next day to go back and raise funds for a couple months. Literally within five minutes of meeting them, they asked if we wanted to live in their house while they were gone free of charge. So here we are and really it has been a tremendous testimony to us of God caring for us. Jesus said if we leave houses, families, possessions and follow him we will gain all these things to a greater extent and in the end eternal life. Not that we are behind any kind of prosperity gospel, but simply to say that giving up anything for Christ and His gospel is never a sacrifice. God is our provider.
Along with that, we are once again without jobs. The positions that we mentioned with Show Mercy have not worked out how we expected. We feel very strongly that God is leading us in a different direction and so we are doing our best to be obedient, though at times it is discouraging.
Last Sunday at church, the pastor talked about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, and how God to took them the long way around to a dead end. The Israelites grumbled that they had ever left Egypt, but they didn’t realize it was to show God’s glory. Even once they were through the sea, God lead them the longest way possible to get them to the promised land. But it was for His glory and that is what we are hoping in. There are times we question if we should have ever left Oregon, and questioning why God keeps leading us to dead ends, but we know it is for His glory, and it is His hand which will take us through the deep of the sea.

Joel fell in a hole

Today Joel fell in a hole. As most things on this trip so far it all happened quite quickly. One moment we were walking the streets of Kampala, the next minute there he was… in the hole. The fall managed to pull back half of the overgrown toe nail Rachel had been asking him to clip for the whole week preceding the fall. Afraid of infection Joel cleaned and used antibacterial ointment but the dirt clods that had made a home under the remaining nail were there to stay.

Moving to Uganda.....already

Well, we have left the sunny beaches of Maui…..wait, we were in Malawi, the impoverished African country. It’s easy to confuse the two. Yes we were supposed to be there for three years, but it is a very small country, and easily experienced fully in one week. Malawi is called the warm heart of Africa. A more appropriate slogan might be, “Once you come you’ll never leave.” Not really because you loved it so much, but logistically it is near impossible.

Those were all jokes, by the way. Some of them most of you might not understand, but they make us laugh because sometimes when you experience something in another culture, there is really no way to truly describe it. Honestly we really love Malawi, and the people there, we truly love. It is a country that desperately needs the worlds help, as it is extremely poor. So we would encourage people to support work in Malawi if they are ever able to.

For us, it was not the right fit. There are a thousand different reasons behind that, but the bottom line is, God has other plans for us. Now that we are here in UGANDA, we see how perfect his plan is.

We have accepted positions working with Show Mercy International. It is a fairly new organization that specializes in building and managing children homes (orphanages) around the world. The majority of their projects lie in Uganda, so we have moved here to Kampala, where we will manage one of their homes and help organize construction of a new development which will house more children in better facilities than they are currently able. Since Rachel studied in Kampala before it is a perfect fit because she knows the city and culture well already. The home is also in a small Muslim village and Joel has had a lot of experience in that culture so they fit both of our gifts and experience nicely.

So we are very excited for this new part of our lives. If you want to learn more about what we are doing, please go to www.showmercy.org. Also since we have now become “support based” if you would like to financially support us you can find out how under the “Donate” section of the website. We trust God to provide for us.

Anyway, this is long enough for now. We’ve attached a picture of the family we were staying with in Malawi. It was the only picture we took there.

Naming Babies and Cake Dancing

It doesn’t take long in another culture before one begins to appreciate the drastic differences in our ways of life. Some of these differences are wonderful discoveries, some are jarring to our sense. However, the majority of the experiences lie in the vast realm of awkwardness. We have had two examples of these already in Malawi. One has made us smile, the other has made us laugh.
A couple of days ago we met the brother of the man who is hosting us during our stay. George is our host and is brother’s name is Joel, surprisingly. We met Joel, and soon after our greeting he told us out of the blue, “We have been waiting for you to name our children.” Apparently, his wife had just given birth to twin girls. We laughed off his request, assuming no one in their right mind would want strangers to give names that their children would be stuck with for the rest of their lives.
The day went on and we ended up at the home of Joel and got to hold his two new daughters. They were two of the tiniest babies we had ever seen, but very beautiful. After a few minutes the question came back again, “So what are their names?” We looked at each other realizing that the request was serious. So thinking that they would probably appreciate Biblical names, Rachel said, “This one will be Esther, and this one will be Mariam.” They seemed to be pleased with the choices. They then asked us to pray blessings over the children. Memories of old testament prophecies ran through my (Joel) head and I blurted out different blessings for each child.
It was a strange experience yet one that we will always cherish and feel honored to have had. So if you ever come across a Malawian girl named, Esther or Mariam, ask if they were named by white strangers.
This experience was only matched by a bizarre experience in church where, after a four hour sermon, two smiling men in suits danced around a cake for about two hours. It was exactly what it sounds like.

Leaving

All of our possessions now sit in boxes. It's amazing how much "stuff" we accumulate without even knowing or trying. A lot of really useless stuff too. We have a box of pez dispensers; it will be difficult to transition into a life without pez. All in all this process is very freeing. Reducing your possessions to a suitcase. Selling your possessions and giving to the poor. We recently saw the movie Into the Wild. A very good film; I really can identify with the sense of freedom that he experienced by throwing off all material ties and just setting off into the horizon. Freedom, peace, contentment.

We are so easily convinced that our lives consist of our possessions and what we possess. Though we would never say we are of course. I love books. I had a whole bookshelf full of books. It literally took me two hours to decide which ones to keep and which ones to sell. Some books I have had for over a decade and I have still to read them. Painfully I scaled it down to three. Three. The truth is I kept them primarily for status and feeling like I was a real "book" person. Wise beyond my years. I still want to read them. I guess the library will have to humble my sense of ownership. The rest of the books now sit in my car to be dropped off at Powells today. Actually it feels good. It feels so good to not own a lot of things. It feels really good to not be owned by a lot of things. Jesus said numerous times, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Beside of the obvious implication that we should be better caring for the poor in this world, I think I really like this treasure in heaven. It's not a sacrifice; it's better. Our desire's are too easy to fulfill. We are robbing ourselves and our poor neighbors. But there is abundant life that is to be had.

"Sell your possessions and give it to the poor. Then come follow Me." -Jesus