I often find myself lost in the midst of weeds and I wonder if I’ve drunk the wrong bottle from Alice’s wonderland or if the forest itself is somehow bewitched. I push past the everyday maze of Ugandan English to find its seeds sticking to
Come ye thankful people come, raise the song of harvest home: all is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin; God, our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied: come to God’s own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home. The
The news of livestock in one of the mission’s planted fields always rouses a certain excitement. The thrill of the chase. This thrill quickly gives way to tall grass raking the legs and burrs falling into the boots and finally descends into a series of
Two deaths this week for two families of church members, employees, and friends (and it’s only Thursday). Sunday, the young niece of Acia Nicholas died. Months ago, the mission helped to get her to Mbale where she had a brain tumor removed. And while she
This is our summer mission team. They’ve come from many places in the US, but were organized and drawn mainly from the OPC Presbytery of Southern California (Dave Okken’s home presbytery). We have, Stephen (holding the spear), Scott (dressed as Goliath), Lydia (amateur footballer), Alexander
Visitor season is in full swing! Last week, Christopher and Pastor Dave Okken picked up a group of new visitors including a team organized by the Presbytery of Southern California. Our present visitors are involved in many aspects of the work. Volunteers are working at
Carmel has fully recovered from malaria. I figured, all you praying saints deserve an update! She is now back to her toddling, laughing, stubborn ways. And what a delight it is! In the midst of her illness, I shared my struggle and feelings of guilt
I split open the crotch of pair of slacks. There is a church member in Namalu who operates a small shop selling clothing and bicycle parts, and when I went there Thursday, I parked in front of his storefront because I wanted to ask him
The fevers started Saturday night with a whimper. It took three days, two trips to the clinic, a remission, a relapse, countless second guesses, two sleepless nights and one negative test to finally confirm that Carmel has malaria. Although my fears imagined other cases, this
The rains have come. With them, a myriad of changes. The temperature dropped forty degrees in one week, the river separating our compounds from the main road and clinic is no longer dry, porch decoration is now damp laundry, toads and frogs are croaking happily,