Just a little update

So i just wanted to fill everyone in a little about what's been going on:

Kawuku
Pastor Dickens has worked out a deal with the headmaster of the school about 100 yards from where we have been meeting. It's called Kawuku Parents School. It's a primary boarding school. We are renting a room on Saturdays and Sundays for 50,000 shillings a month(25USD). I think this is really good for our church. We are now meeting in a place that everyone in the area is familiar with, so it is now easier to tell people where to go. There is also a HUGE field, where there are always tons of kids. We are looking to bring the projector out there and show some movies in the near future. I would guess that there is room for about 2,000 people in this field. So there is a lot of potential. So the people seem to be happy. However there are some struggles. Now, that we aren't meeting around the homes, it is less convenient for the people who would just walk outside when we had it in the middle of the community. So there have been less adults when we have been meeting lately. Please be praying for Kawuku.


Kawuku Children's Ministry
Up until now, Jana and I have been running the "Sunday School". We have been responsible for the lesson and story, while Grace (the Kawuku children's leader) watches and translates. Grace then usually summarizes and teaches a memory verse and a song. Then we go crazy and play with the kids. But this week, we have agreed that Grace will lead the children. This is a big moment for us. We have come to build a children's ministry, and this is the point where we are handing it over to a Ugandan. Please be praying for Kawuku.


Early, Texas Volunteer Team
So last week, the volunteer team from Early, Texas was here. They were all really cool(I say that because they are all probably reading this blog). Anyways, they did a great job of spicing things up around here. They focused on the Kalerwe area, but also went out to Kawuku with us one day. They did an amazing job of just being real people who love God. It was fun to be reminded of all the "tourist-y" things that you do when first arriving in Kampala. Thomas really made an impact on Bosco, so Bosco and I have gotten on skype a few times in the last week to call Thomas. Sharif also got to meet the team. I'm pretty sure he was the only Ugandan to correctly pronounce Kendall's name.




Sharif
(As a friend to Sharif, I do not want to post all his personal information on the internet, but I would like to share some so that you can know how he lives, and can be praying for him.)
So about once or twice a week I will go out to Kalerwe to visit Sharif. Nothing organized, we just hang out. Since we have met, he has begun taking a computer course. This is awesome, because he has nothing. However, he has so much faith that God help him through this course. Every evening at about 4pm he goes into town and is taught things from a man 1 on 1 for about 4 hours. I think it is really helping him out. He has learned Microsoft Word and Excel now and he can type correctly. This has been really good for him because it is keeping him busy. He now has a goal and can work toward it, instead of just sitting around. He has just gotten settled in at a new place. Sunday, we went and got him a padlock for his door. He was very excited. His mom disappeared about 2 months ago. Sharif had no idea where she was or if she was okay. Well he called me Saturday and told me that he ran into his mom. Apparently she could not handle the stresses and responsibility so she just left. This is a pretty tough situation. Please be praying for Sharif. Pray for his education and family.


Bosco
Bosco has been doing really well. I can't believe i didn't post something, but about a month ago he accepted Christ! It was so great. I can see a huge change in his life. You can sence the new security that he has now, despite living in one of the poorest slums in Kampala. He is very persistant and wants to learn. So Bosco, myself and Julius(the other night guard here) have been having an ongoing Bible study for the past month. It works like this: I tell them a few chapters of a book in the Bible. Then they read it, and write down the parts that stuck out to them and questions they had. Then we all get together and discuss what we learned from this and comments we had. It has been really productive.


Kitintale Skatepark

So I have been really busy lately, so I haven't been able to go out there much. Monday I was able to go visit the guys. It was really fun. They are busy preparing for the big competition on March 29th. Jack(the one in charge of the park) has been busy networking and trying to publicize the event. He really loves these kids and the sport and is doing a great job. He's gone to pretty much every newspaper and tv station and gotten support. Mountain Dew has also agreed to not only sponsor the event, but also the sport of skateboarding in Uganda. This means that the kids are gonna be on all the billboards and advertisements for Mountain Dew in Uganda. This week they are doing some work on the ramps, filling in the holes with concrete. So for a week they have to let it dry. So we walked up a hill to this really nice area with nice roads. It was so nice that Uganda President Museveni's daughter passed by in her car. Apparently her house was less than a kilometer from where we were hanging out. It was really fun. I participated a little. It was pretty humbling. Please be praying for the Kitintale Skatepark.

If you know anyone who would like to donate, visit, or send skateboards, pads, helmets, shoes to the skatepark please email skateboarduganda@yahoo.com or call Jack Mubiru at +256752397100

for more info you can visit:
http://www.ugandaskateboardunion.org/
http://www.ugandaskateboardunion.wordpress.com/

Ingredients

So I'm sorry for not writing much lately. I've come up with this excuse: I'm getting to the point where there is not much new going on. For the most part, I'm going to the same places, seeing the same people and doing the same things. Writing on this blog is not as easy anymore, because I don't really feel like a tourist anymore. But the good news is that the things I am doing and the relationships I have are being strengthened. At first, I was very overwhelmed with everything. There were so many people with needs. How could I possibly help all those people? Then I remembered that I am only one piece of the puzzle. My job is definitely not to do it all. Instead of doing a little bit for a lot of people, I feel like God is asking me to put a lot of effort into a few people. (Which kinda reminds of the song "The World" by Brad Paisley) I can handle that.

Only Jesus can be Jesus to everyone. Ephesians 5:1-2 tells us to "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God."


So here was my problem and what I've found:

The Bible tells us to "Imitate God, in everything you do." That's a pretty huge responsibility for a human. Why would God ask a sinner like me to do something impossible like that? Is it possible to do what God would do in every situation? After all, we know that imitations are never as good as the real deal. Every time I make a mistake, I am not being an imitator of God. Yet, every time I have made a mistake, I have ignored the Holy Spirit, which God has put inside of me for those very moments.

Our responsibility is to imitate God. As much as we try to be perfect, we just cannot do it. I would say on average we do a pretty horrible job at reflecting Christ. In spite of this, I believe God has given us the ability to imitate and reflect Christ: One person at a time, one moment at a time. So we cannot be like Christ on a Christ-sized scale, but what if in the smallest of things we could show Christ? What if we broke things down and started small? With the things closest to us?

Here's another way to explain it:

Jesus is the master chef. He knows exactly how much of each ingredient to put in his masterpieces. Every ingredient has it's purpose. And too much of one ingredient will throw everything off.

Lets just say that I could be 3% as Christ-like as Jesus. This number seems so low, that it makes me not even want to try. But Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. Jesus acknowledges that i might only have 3% to give...but he can work with that... Jesus doesn't ask one ingredient to be more than it is. So what if instead of worrying about the 97% that we don't have to give anything, we focused on one percent at a time. When we zoom in on those first three percentage points, we see that we can be everything that is needed. (This is getting confusing) That means that 3 percent of the time we can give 100 percent and we can let God (in his crazy, secret, perfect ways) fill in the rest.

Mark 12:41-44
"Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.'"

So my conclusion is that even though we cannot be perfect, we are asked to offer up what we have to give. Jesus is always there to fill in the rest, but he asks us to try our best. I've also found that when you work hard on the quality of the smallest building block, the final structure turns out pretty nice. Think of sometime where someone seemed very much like Christ in your life. Aren't you glad they offered up what they had to give even though it didn't seem like much? Are you giving any effort?