Let’s have a quick survey: Raise your hand if you sung about prostitution and/or murder in your church service yesterday? I’m guessing, if you did raise your hand, that you are probably a missionary serving with OPUM and that I probably sang alongside you yesterday.
reflections
Pastor Dave had the singularly uncomfortable job of preaching from James 5:1-6 on Sunday. It’s a good text to preach when one is on furlough raising support, but it just doesn’t come as easily when on the mission field, especially in rural East Africa. The
With apologies to those hoping for some big news from the mission, this post may not scratch you where you itch. I just came across this interesting article that was too strange not to share. You don’t often expect a web designer to draw lessons
Our workers get a lot of flak for being lazy, often deservedly. Or we couch the accusation in anthropological terms—that taking advantage of those with more resources than you, viz. the employer, is an essential aspect of the Karimojong culture. That way, instead of saying
Exactly what I was expecting when we returned to Uganda, I’m not sure. Our lives are full of little oddities that are easy to forget when we are away, and so remarkable when we return to what we call normalcy. I did not expect how
If you haven’t heard, our daughter was born March 15. She was born Carmel Ariadne. Almost everyone who hears her name asks about the origin, so it seemed fitting (if a bit self-indulgent) to provide the definitive guide to her name here at Verdickmoja. Carmel
“I feel pregnant!” was my recent response to a simple inquiry into how I’m feeling. I am often asked how I’m feeling. This seems to be the most socially acceptable way to ask a pregnant woman how she is doing. In retrospect this response may
Chloe and I presented this movie about our year for Sunday school yesterday at New Life. For anyone who wasn’t able to be there, I’ve uploaded it for your viewing pleasure. Pastor Dave would like me to remind you all that we only had Koolaid
As many of you know, Christopher and I are expecting our first child, a little girl, on February 28, 2014 (give or take a few weeks at providence’s discretion). I find my thoughts often wandering to the coming birth and parenthood beyond. It is tempting
The following is an attempt to express some of the whirling thoughts on “re-entry”. The road behind, a streak in the sky 14 months long The road before, a swirling dream of the known made surreal Punctuated with a question mark An exchange has begun,
We are coming home. Or are we? With our current term coming to an end in just a few weeks, it’s hard not to feel a sense of disconnectedness from what’s going on around the Mission. The other missionaries are planning for events that will
At Pastor Al’s recommendation, I’ve picked up a book called Africa: Altered States Ordinary Miracles by Richard Dowden. Its author is a veteran of reportage in Africa, and his concise history of post-colonial Africa is peppered with fascinating personal anecdotes collected over decades of work on