Christmas Blessings

I have a dear friend with a very sweet heart.  She and her husband wanted to do something for the children I work with, so she gave the orphans an unforgettable Christmas. 

They donated money for me to buy each of them a new set of clothes, shoes, a notebook, a pencil, and a toy.  So Sylvia split up the money and set out to buy the gifts.  She went to get the clothes (we both knew that they would charge more if I came because I’m white) and I got the pencils, notebooks, and toys.  I got some wrapping paper, wrapped up the toys, and packed them into bags to deliver the next day.  I felt like Santa Clause.

Before I continue, I want you to know that this never happens for these kids.  When I say never I mean NEVER.  The majority of Ugandan children don’t get gifts at Christmas. 

I wanted to make it really special for them, so I also got some balloons, soda, lollipops, and cookies.   

We decided to do “Christmas” a week before Christmas for various reasons, so on the 18^th I came with all the goods.  We went into the teacher’s office, put their clothes/gifts in piles with their name on top, put out the yummies, and blew up some balloons.  While we were setting up Sylvia was so excited.  She said, “This never happens!  I’ve never seen anything like this in my life!”  We told the kids that the teacher’s office was off limits for the afternoon, which obviously sparked their interest.  However, not enough to have any idea what was behind it’s doors.  After lunch Sylvia told each of them to bathe and put on their nicest clothes.  Okay, now they were seriously curious. 

We lined them up and told them to close their eyes.  We opened the door and while they walked in we sang “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”  Oh the joy, oh the excitement, oh the…confusion.  It took them a few seconds to realize what was happening because, like I said, this has never happened.  As they opened their gifts and put on their new clothes, squeals of excitement entered the room.  Smiles were not scarce:)

After the madness was over, Godfrey said, “We need to thank the Lord.”  So we did.  We sang a worship song and then all prayed thanking Him for the donors and thanking Him for such an incredible blessing this Christmas.  Even with material gifts, they remember to keep Christ at the center. 

The actual Christmas here was very different from what I am used to.  Christmas morning came and there was no tree, no presents, but happy hearts.  We went to church for a Christmas day service and stayed all day spending time with people.  We ate a lot of food…they sure know how to eat.  Chicken and soda are the main food groups during Christmas.  Hey, I’m not complaining!  In the evening we packed into the car and headed home.  After dinner we just hung out (my grandma-self did a puzzle with them) and then went to bed.  For the most part, it was like a regular Sunday.  The day after Christmas in Uganda is Boxing Day, which is the day you give gifts.  However, the people I work with are not the upper class of Uganda, therefore there are little to no gifts given.  But don’t get me wrong, lots of love was passed around. :)

All in all, Christmas here has reminded me that it is really not about gifts at all.  It’s not about getting “Christmas cheer” or in the “Christmas spirit.”  It’s about loving others and loving our great Lord.  This year I noticed that Christmas was a sad day for God.  It was the day He sacrificed His only Son to come to earth and take on the lowly form of a human.  He also knew that one day soon, the Son He sent would die a criminal’s death.  Realizing this, it made me all the more humble and grateful to the Lord for Christmas.  His sacrifice is our joy.  Thank you dear Lord.

Recent Events (for the lack of more poetic language)

My life has been but anything but boring here.  Two weeks ago I went to the annual worship night, which is a night where tens of thousands of people pack a stadium in Kampala (capital city) and worship the Lord from 6pm-6am.  We sang and sang and sang and danced and danced and danced for hours and hours.  And surprisingly enough, it didn’t get old as I expected it would (but I must admit that I was not dancing at 4am…). It was such a privilege to go and literally worship with the nations for an entire night.  I remember at around 2am or so I glanced around me and saw people everywhere praising God with their entire being.  I cannot even explain the rush I felt!

We got back to Mutungo at around 6:30 so I just slept there and stayed all of Saturday since there were rehearsals for the school’s speech day.  Speech day was Sunday and oh. my. gosh. SO fun!  Speech day isn’t as it sounds…it is actually a day where the kids put on skits, songs, and dances for their parents and anyone else who comes.  They were so excited!  They put on their little African costumes and got jiggy with it.  It was a bittersweet day for me, because it was the last day I saw all of them (holiday started the following day for 2 months).  Nevertheless we had so much fun.  I taught the teachers and some of them the cha- cha slide and they decided that they wanted to include it in the performance, so we did!  Something that is different here: when someone performs a song or dance and someone in the audience likes it, they walk (or dance) up to you and give you money.  It is usually just a coin, but the children love it.  More money for sweets! Well when I danced all these people came up to me and gave me money haha.  It was a new experience for them to see a muzungu dancing.  Oh the money I would have reeled in if I had danced Baganda(the booty shaking dance I was talking about)!  Regrets regrets…

 

                                        

 

 The young ones had a fashion show                   

                                                                                       A few students about to do a tribal dance

So I have a lot to blog about…hope you aren’t getting bored!  Next item on the agenda: my trip to Western Uganda.  I kinda tagged along with the pastor, Sylvia, and Godfrey.  The pastor went to visit his mother who lives deep village, and Sylvia went to visit her sons (a long and sad story of why she cannot be with them).  It was about a 6 hour drive, and I learned that Ugandan road trips are much different than American.  First of all, there is one road, no exits, no bathrooms.  When you have to go to the bathroom, you stop on the road and find a bush (better than the hole that we usually have to use).  Next, when you stop for fast food it is really fast.  So we are driving through middle of nowhere Africa when we pull into a small town of shops and such.  I see a bunch of men in blue shirts with numbers on the back rush to our car and throw their hands in our windows with food.  You pick what you want, pay them and then go on your way.  The food is usually grasshoppers in a bag, corn, or chicken on a stick (like a stick from the tree).  Saying the food is sketchy is an understatement but for we were so hungry that shoot we ate it! I am happy to say that it was okay and all is well with our stomachs:)  Lastly, it was absolutely beautiful and simply breathtaking.  There was green EVERYWHERE.  All around us was nature- hills, trees, grass, and animals.  Throughout the ride I saw chimpanzees, zebras, monkeys, and birds I had never seen before.  Might as well have been a safari!  I popped in my Ipod to add a soundtrack to the beauty around me and felt like I was in a dream.  Music seriously takes anything to a new level.

                  A snap of Western Uganda                                        A Chimpanzee(baby underneath)

Our first stop was in Fort Portral to see his late brother’s wife and children (his brother passed away about a month ago).  It was cold!  We are on the equator and I had to wrap up in a blanket, say what?  Ugandans are some of the sweetest people, I love meeting more and more of them.  We slept there and then in the morning we headed to Mabaale to visit his mother.  His mother seriously lives in the village.  All those African pictures you see of people getting water from wells, living in mud huts, carrying babies on their backs and things on their heads- yep that was how it was here.  Such raw African living.  I loved it.  His mother and those who live with her don’t speak much English, but I was one of the first, if not the first white person they had ever seen.  So despite the fact that we couldn’t communicate much, we loved being around each other!  We went to the well to wash the car (which had gotten quite muddy at this point) and people walking would just stop and stare at me.  I of course, in turn, would just smile and wave at them.  They got so excited that muzungu waved at them haha.  The next day they wanted to take us to the village market so we went and once again I was the center of attention.  One guy even shouted out that the market was just upgraded because a white person came. Haha oh the thrills of being white…

                                        

 The next day we went to visit Sylvia’s 2 boys who are 10 and 11.  I would share the story of why she cannot be with them, but she shared with me in confidentiality so I don’t think she would appreciate it if I spread it on the World Wide Web.  It was sad because I don’t think she has seen them in at least a year, and she only got to spend a few hours with them.  After that we headed home and knowing that it was hard for her to leave made my heart so heavy.  When we had been driving for a while she pulled me over to her and said that she was so sad to leave them but was reminded of God’s goodness and found joy in that.  She is literally the strongest woman I know.

Yesterday when I came to church I found that one of the orphans has malaria.  He is so so sick and I found out that he had no medicine because Sylvia couldn’t afford it.  The medicine was 25,000 shillings (ten dollars).  Your donations really do make a difference.  Even the smallest donation of ten dollars can help in some big way such as that.  Because the donations I have received I was able to provide sweet Rodrick with medicine.  Please pray that he would improve.  Also please continue to share with others the need here and donate what God has placed on your heart so that we can build the teachers housing.  Thank you to everyone who has selflessly given so far, God bless!

Tis the season to give: A big step of faith

I want to share my heart with you today. 

There is a need here- an overwhelming need.  And I cannot sit any longer.  There have been so many times when I have been convicted by the Lord to do something, and I have ignored it.  I am afraid of doing big things because I am afraid of failing.  I don’t like to take big steps of faith because they are frightening.  They require for me to depend on someone other than myself.  But, you see, the thing I have forgotten all of these times is that it is not about ME.  It is not about MY comfort, MY security, or MY possibility to fail.  If God has called me to do something, then it is not about me.  It is about Him and His glory being made known.  Even when it’s all about Him, he teaches and molds us in the process as we put our complete faith and trust in Him.  So here I go, taking a step of faith and letting the Lord use me. I mean, He’s in control anyway.

I have been placed here for a reason, and I have started to uncover part that reason.  I want to tell you more about where I am working.  I don’t know what I have said in previous posts, so I will start at the beginning.  I teach at a school in a place called Mutungo.  Mutungo is a wonderful, but very poor place.  Most of the people live on about a dollar a day, and if they make more, it is not by much.  The school I teach at has 150 students, most of which don’t/can’t pay their school fees.  That isn’t a surprise, as you look at the community around the school.  So, as a result of the students not paying their school fees, the school has next to no money.  That means no money to pay teachers.  There are 11 teachers and they haven’t been paid for 2 months.  To pay all of the teachers for 2 months of work, $1200 dollars is needed.  I think that shows you how small their salaries are.  Many of the teachers have families and live far away. Half of their salaries alone go to transport for their rare visits to home.  Since many of them live in far away villages, the school has to rent places for them to stay.  These “places” are usually rooms with a concrete floor, one light bulb, a foam mattress on a floor, and a suitcase of clothes.  The money the school does have goes towards renting these places for the teachers, which means no money is left for salaries.

If they can build a place for teachers to stay, they will have more money to put into teacher salaries.  If teachers don’t get paid, there will be no teachers.  No teachers means no education for 150 children that cannot afford to go to any other school.

While being here, the Lord has convicted me about giving. It’s partly due to the fact that He stuck me in a place where giving is the only solution to many hardships.  I want to share with you some scriptures that have convicted me:

Proverbs 3:27  “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.”

1 John 3:17-18 “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in Him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth.”

Romans 12:13 “Share with God’s people who are in need.”

Galatians 6:9-10 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Giving is not an option, it’s a command.  We want to follow God’s example?  He GAVE His only son to come to earth, and then His son GAVE His life.  How much more giving can ya do? 

To get to the point, I feel like the Lord is calling me to raise money for this project to build teachers housing.  The completion of this project would mean that teachers would receive salaries and that poor children would get an education.  The project would cost about $15,000, and to be totally honest, that number scares me.  A verse we all know, Luke 1:37, says, “For nothing is impossible with God.”  He is in control.  He is in control.  He is in control.  Right now He is merely using me to be a voice for the voiceless and I know that if He wants this to happen, it will.

Being born and raised in America and then coming here, I have realized that the majority of people in America have so much to give.  We don’t like to give because we want “this” or “that” for ourselves, so we say that we can’t “afford” to give anything right now.  I am not pointing you out, I am pointing myself out! Before I came here, I was hesitant to give any more than what I was tithing because I wanted it for things I didn’t need. The Lord has changed my heart so much, and if I had 15,000 in my bank account I would take it out and do this myself!  However if that was the case, it would have been all me and it wouldn’t have required me to trust the Lord. 

Here is where you come in.  Join me on this step of faith.  What are you capable of giving today?  I really hate asking people for money, and I like being able to do things by myself, but it’s really not about me.  I am merely doing what the Lord has asked me to, and it is in His best interest to meet people’s needs.  Take a look in your Bible- He cares about the practical needs of His people. 

Let’s see what we can do!  Share this with your friends and join me in praying that the Lord would provide!

To donate: Checks can be made payable to First Baptist Church of Norfolk, and make sure to write “Samantha Kynett-Uganda” on the memo line. Please send gifts to First Baptist Church of Norfolk, 312 Kempsville Road, Norfolk, Virginia 23502. Your donation is considered a tax deductible, charitable contribution for IRS purposes.  You may also donate online at: www.firstnorfolk.org. Go to “Online Giving” and please make sure you enter “Samantha Kynett” and “Uganda” in the Mission Trip box.

If you have made it to the end of this lengthy post, I am proud of you! Thank you for your continuous love and prayers!

Crusade, Dancing, and Bugs.

Hey folks! Before I say anything, I need to say that I am a totally bad communicator.  Here, one of my weaknesses out in the open so you all can know!  I am not good at taking lots of pictures, partly because I get caught up in just living that I forget to pull out the camera.  I am not very good at updating my blog because I am either too tired or too lazy to type something out.  I am not good at quickly emailing back either.  So for all of that I am sorry! However, I am willing to try to change for all of you sweet people:)

Where to start…I never know where to start.  I am sitting here waiting till 11pm my time, 3pm your time, to call my parents.  I have my jar of peanut butter beside me and I am indulging in a generous amount. It’s awesome.  There is nothing like Jiff peanut butter when you haven’t had American food in a month!  It’s comforting to have a little familiarity wherever I can have it, even if it’s just peanut butter. 

Back to Africa.  Two weeks ago a team from the States came and we had a crusade.  Brian and Elizabeth (whom I know) came with 4 other team members.  It was so refreshing to be with some fellow Americans!  The crusade was 5 nights long, which made for 5 long days.  Each night there would be worship (lots of it), then preaching, then more worship.  The last night was the most fun because 2 Ugandan celebrities came and everyone was hyped. By hyped I mean totally whacko.  They are both gospel singers, and people love them.  I got to meet them, which I guess is cool, despite the fact that I didn’t know who the heck they were!  Each night of the crusade had more and more people, but the last night outnumbered them all.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there were over 1,000 people there.  That means that 1,000 people heard about God’s great love.  Many came to know the Lord.  Praise God! 

I am still teaching at Morning Star, but they only have 2 weeks left until they are finished for the year.  That means 2 months of no school! I am going to see what God has in store for me to do with the time off. At the end of every year, they have something called “speech day,” which threw me off because I thought that meant that they were all doing speeches.  Nope.  It’s a day of songs and dances that the students perform for their parents.  I have been watching them rehearse and I love it!  They always ask me to pull out my cheesy dance moves and dance for them.  Whoop I don’t think that I blogged about my dance competition!  Well let me fill you in:)

P7 students are the oldest students in the school, and a few weeks ago they took their final exam to determine if they could go to secondary school.  They wanted to have an end of the year party, and at this end of the year party there was dancing. And a lot of it.  These Africans know how to get down!  Anywho, so I’m sitting there in the back with the teachers when Sylvia calls me and 2 other teachers to come up for a dance off.  I had no heads up and no notice that this was going to take place! However something I have learned here is how to just roll with it.  The music began and I pulled out my goofiest and cheesiest dance moves and just did whatever came to mind.  The children laughed so hard and I am proud to say- I won that dance contest.  How did I win a dance contest between 2 other African women? I have no idea. Probably because I’m white and because the students felt bad for me.  Nevertheless, this is a victory.  This is a milestone in my life.

So, since that dance contest, the students sneak a dance move at me as I walk by their class when their teacher isn’t looking.  They ask me to repeat those goofy dance moves almost every day, and I love it.  The giggles and bursts of laughter fill my heart with joy.  On the other hand, they want to teach me their African hip shaking, booty bouncing dance.  I keep telling them that I don’t think my hips can move that fast, but I know I will be forced to try it sometime soon.  However, my new thinking since being here is, “bring it on!” Another “bring it on” moment was when I ate a live bug.  To be honest, I’m not quite sure what I was thinking, because a month ago I would have never done that!  Some background info- I was outside playing soccer with the kids I live with, when they look over the wall and see people crowded around this pile of white ants, gathering as many as possible.  The kids shriek with excitement and run out to get some.  They pull of the wings and eat it while it is alive.  I was in shock for at least 15 minutes.  It is bigger than an ant and is a white maggot looking bug.  After my shock subsided, I decided that “YOLO” was an appropriate saying for the moment and ate one.  For the record, it has no taste, so in my opinion, it’s not worth it if you are faced with the decision of eating one! Next they want me to eat grasshoppers….

So whether it is eating bugs or attempting to dance like Africans, bring it on!