A Visit to Entebbe

On Thursday, March 8th, Uganda celebrated Women’s Day. It was quite odd to have a holiday during the work week, but we enjoyed it none the less! David and I took a day trip to Entebbe, a 45 minute matatu ride from Kampala. Entebbe is a beautiful city, green and lush, on the shore of Lake Victoria. We flew into Entebbe early in the morning back in August, but hadn’t spent much time there.


We spent the morning exploring the Entebbe Botanical Gardens, enjoying the vast assortment of tropical plants. The British brought plants in from around the world when they started the gardens in the 40’s, including some Chinese bamboo and California Palm trees. They also had many Ugandan staples as well, including banana, matoke, avocado, cocoa, tea, and coffee plants. We enjoyed watching the fishermen bring in their nets on the shores of Lake Victoria and were refreshed by the shade of the small, dense jungle where the old classic “Tarzan” was purportedly filmed.


David pretending to be Tarzan!




After meandering through the gardens, at the end of our guided tour, we were surprised to discover a tree full of velvet tailed monkeys! Monkeys of all sizes were swinging and playing, eating and chatting. We were mesmerized by them and decided to track them as they traveled around the gardens.



When we had our share of monkeys we walked downtown and ate lunch at a local Pub, recommended in our Bradt’s Guide to Uganda book. Watching CNN kept us occupied while we waited one hour too long for our tasty yet inexpensive food, a spicy Chinese dish chicken pizza. After walking around and exploring Entebbe all morning, we were quite refreshed when we finally jumped into the cool pool at the Windsor Lake Victoria Hotel. The rest of the afternoon was spent reading, napping and relaxing there. We had no problems catching a matatu back to Kampala and enjoyed our nice little get away.


Momma and baby


David communicating with the monkeys


Children who live by the gardens

A Taste from Around the World

Last Friday, the Parent Teacher Fellowship, PTF, (which I am a part of) hosted an International Dinner at my school. The dinner was "to celebrate the diversity of our cultures" at Heritage. Thirteen different countries were represented from our school, each proudly decorating a table with various pictures, flags, maps, and of course-their favorite food! It was so fun to sample the vast assortment of ethnic foods and glimpse what life is like in each culture.


The Philippines roasted an entire pig, which freaked several children out. (And me too!)


The Italians, the table I sampled first, cooked delicious lasagna and demonstrated how to make noodles. They even had gelato for dessert!


Uganda, the largest group represented, went all out with their motake (a staple here, a banana-like plant), beans, and rice and even had groundnut (similar to peanut) sauce wrapped and tied in individual bags made from banana leaves. South Korea had lots of sushi, and Singapore made sweet and sour fish.


Me with my neighbors...Kristen (a 3rd grade teacher at Word of Life) and Heather (the 1st grade teacher at HIS)

America's table was full of Mac & Cheese, pizza, (ordered from a local restaurant), potato and other assorted casseroles, and chocolate chip cookies and many other desserts, of course! I made Texas Sheet Cake. America had the most desserts by far (surprise, surprise!); the Canadians and Italians were the only other countries that even had it!

Besides the food, I loved seeing the different traditional costumes, specifically from the Koreans and the Africans. The local Ugandans proudly wore their Gomesi, a dress worn for special occasions such as introductions, an engagement party, weddings, and sometimes church.

Hoon Hee, one of my 5th grade students, beautifully wore a hanbok, a Korean traditional dress.


Juliette is the 2nd grade teacher at HIS and Laura is the 4th


After the meal, there were contests to see who had lived in the most countries and continents, and who had given birth in the most different places. Each group also was called up front to sing their National Anthem and to tell a few fun facts about their country. A fun fact: gum is not allowed in Singapore, you will be fined if caught chewing. Apparently it’s a very wealthy and clean city. David brilliantly had the Americans, the second largest group represented, sing "Take me Out to the Ball Game" before our real national anthem. Don't worry Cards fans-David was representing us well, proudly flaunting a Cardinal's shirt. We were sure to yell, "Root, root, root for the CARDINALS!" as well when we sang! I'm not sure that the rest of the countries, excluding Canada, understood it because of their love of "football." In case you weren't aware, soccer is much more popular than baseball in countries outside of America. (Maybe David Beckham will help change this in the US?) Our principal, Steve, from England, said the Americans made up baseball because they didn't understand the rules for cricket.

Ethiopia

Next to having the joy and freedom of daily teaching Christ to my students, one of my favorite aspects of teaching at Heritage has been working with teachers and students from all over the world. Before living here, I had little contact with people from outside America. David had several Indian friends in Rolla and I worked with a few Hispanics when I was in B'ham but that was about it. It has been so intriguing, eye opening, and fun to learn and get to know other countries' traditions, customs, expressions, food and daily way of life that are so very different from ours. I easily got wrapped up in the American bubble and forgot that we are just a small sliver of the world!

My 5th graders and I have been reading from the children's version of Operation World called Window on the World, a book which highlights countries from around the globe, discussing the

religions, culture, personal stories from children, and how to pray specifically for the country and the people. It has been a reminder to me and my students of all the vastly different people groups not just represented in Uganda, but in the world… all with the same need of a Savior. (I highly recommend buying it and reading it if you have elementary age children!) One of my students, Husna, who’s parents are from Rwanda and was raised her first 8 years in Canada, says that, through reading the book, “I have learned how other people and countries are suffering and have learned not to take things for granted and how we can pray for them." Kezza, who’s mom is from Texas and dad is from Burundi, says that, "It's interesting to learn about the new countries and cultures and to hear real life stories about the people there. I like knowing that you can help through praying for them." And Tumi, a Ugandan, says, "It's fun to learn about new countries and religious, some I have never even heard of."

Amidst the many different tribes and tongues spoken in Uganda, along with the international community represented here, it is beautiful to see Christ's universal church at work, sharing and reaching Uganda with His love, grace, and mercy. When worshiping and fellowshipping with other believers, it's but a small glimpse and taste of heaven, where Christians are all worshipping our savior, as the church triumphant. (I think of Natalee, my sister.) One day, I too will be praising my Savior with peoples from every tribe and tongue! What a glorious day that will be…

After this, I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could
number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing
before the thrones and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm
branches in their hands, and crying our with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to
our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." Revelations 7:9-10

We've Shifted!

We are so thankful for our new house! We had been praying sometime for a new place to stay, living "dorm style" at eMi was becoming quite challenging for us as a married couple, living at the office next to the other interns. After 5 months of living in the boys’ quarters (rooms out back for the helpers) and having to walk outside into another room to shower/use the toilet, we are incredibly thankful to be living in our own place. We are now living in a new, three bedroom duplex right up the hill from my school. Another family at eMi found the duplex and wanted to move there, but the builder had a hard time completing it on time (it was suppose to be completed Nov. 1st). After waiting 2 months, they finally started looking elsewhere and we started praying for this place. Finally, in mid-January, the builder, after missing several deadlines, barely came through and finished the job (there's still a list of things that need to be completed, but it's livable!) After we leave in June, the eMi office will move to our side of the duplex and the other half will be used for eMi interns. We are so thankful and are love having our own place again.



Though it was a challenge living in the boys quarters, it was sobering to think that we were living much better than most Ugandans who live in shacks or huts without plumbing, electricity, or privacy. So now, we are even more so living in luxury, and at times do feel really undeserving of it. But the truth of the matter is that we don't deserve the house, and we didn't deserve the one room either. Another undeserved blessing from the Lord was his provision of furniture for us. My friend, Nicolien, the 6th grade teacher at Heritage, moved back to Holland after Christmas and we purchased a lot of her African furniture, including a log-style sofa & two chairs, a kitchen table & chairs, microwave, coffee maker/water boiler, curtains & mattresses from Holland, and a large mosquito net. It was such a blessing and saved us loads of money to buy them used. We purchased an oven from another girl who moved away and are using one of eMi's mini fridges. We and have enjoyed cooking our favorite meals again like homemade pizza, spaghetti, tilapia, chicken enchiladas, and new Indian dishes as well! Cooking here does come with its challenges and expense. The power goes off every third day so many times we end up cooking, eating, and showering by candlelight! Produce is quite inexpensive here but dairy products like cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese are quite costly (though there are cows all over!) We don't have a car so we are dependent on others to take me to the store or else we take a matatu (taxi), boda-boda (motorcycle) or walk. Pam, a MTW missionary here, takes our neighbors (two MTW girls) and me occasionally, which is so nice. Surprisingly, we do eat out about once a week (restaurants are quite inexpensive) and there are many delicious, clean, and safe ethnic restaurants around! We eat out way more here then we did in Rolla! I've had Indian, Italian, Ethiopian, Chinese, Thai, and Mongolian BBQ here to name a few. Yum!

For Valentine's Day, we walked to a nearby restaurant, La Petite Bistro, and enjoyed delicious salads, bread, filet, veggies, and almond incrusted tilapia. Including the bottled water you have to buy, we paid the equivalent of $12 for both our dinner. Not too bad. That price included entertainment, by the way. A guy played the keyboard with the pre-recorded drum beats and sang 80s and 90s love songs the whole time we were there.

I'm Back...

There haven’t been any blog posts lately, and it’s partly my fault. I’ve been really busy since coming back from our safari and I want to give everyone an update on what I’ve been doing.

Dave and Teresa took off on Tuesday, January 9. That left me with about a week to get a draft copy of the Westminster drawings and report finished so that we could get their input before our final publishing. I worked some extra hours in order to provide WTCS with a substantially complete draft of the final product. The following week (January 14-20) was crazy as well. Monday was office cleaning day (I can’t believe I’m going into this much detail) and Tuesday we shifted to our new duplex (you don’t move in Uganda, you shift). On Wednesday the new interns arrived and I spent the rest of the week doing intern orientation and Westminster related things. The next week? You guessed it…Westminster Theological College & Seminary in Uganda.

So maybe you wonder why I spend so much time on this project. The simple reason is because interns really only work on one project at a time. The real reason is because I care a lot about seeing Westminster grow, and so I want to do everything I can to labor towards that end. There’s such a need for Biblically-trained, Christ-centered, grace-focused pastors in Africa and this school is eager to continue training men and women for leadership roles. A secondary reason is because I care about having accurate and informative drawings, for two reasons. First, well-made plans are necessary when it’s time to actually begin construction—I want as little confusion as possible about floor elevations, wall locations, and door openings so that the space is utilized efficiently. Second, the plans are being used, right now, for fundraising in the States. (Emma, Dave, and Darlene left on Feb. 20 for a three week trip.) As potential donors view the plans, I hope they recognize all the effort that has gone into this campus and are moved to fund the future construction.

So, back to the timeline of the last month…on February 5, I left for a one week project trip to work with a group called Africa Renewal Ministries. We stayed at Bethany Village, an orphanage community about an hour from the eMi office (15 minutes in a car and then 45 minutes in a boat). The community is made up of about eight homes, each with house parent(s) and 15 brothers and sisters. There is also a primary school on a portion of the site that serves about 550 children. It was exciting to be at this location, first because it is an eMi project that has been constructed (we did the master plan three years ago) but also because of all the kids running around.


ARMs has a sponsorship program helping over 4,000 children all over Uganda. Part of their pledge to the sponsors is that the kids will receive a Christian education. As ARMs looked to the future, they realized it would be better to build their own secondary school than send the children elsewhere and pay school fees. Enter eMi, for the second time. Our team consisted of about ten people (picture to come soon), but I spent the week working primarily with an architect from the UK and a landscape architect from the US to develop a master plan and building designs for the secondary boarding school. It was actually really difficult for me at the beginning of the week. At that time, ARMs wanted to put about 1,000 students on ten acres. I was marginally ok with the density (it’s Africa) but not ok that the ten acres was divided into three different plots that didn’t touch. Ugh. Tuesday and Wednesday of that week were rough for me as I didn’t think the project would ever be feasible.



As the week progressed, the ministry acquired more land that connected the sites and made agreements with other people to create pathways through their land. By the grace of God, a master plan came together by week’s end. The night before our project presentation was different than last time. When we were at the Eby’s for Westminster, we spent about four hours discussing theology and went to bed at a decent time. On this trip, we were coloring, scanning, and prepping until late in the night. I didn’t put the final touches on the PowerPoint until about 2 AM. Ahh, it was like working on a project with my friend Darrell all over again.


I arrived back home on February 12 and was thankful to be reunited with Amanda. We were only able to talk two times during the trip because the cell phone reception was very weak. I spent the rest of the week working like crazy to get the final report for Westminster finished. Here’s the rendering of the final site plan for you to enjoy. We ended up have 37 drawing sheets—that’s quite a few for eMi. If you are interested in seeing some of the other plans, I’d love to share them with you. Or, if you’re interested in donating to Westminster, I can put you in touch with those people as well.



As you pray this week, please pray for two things related to the construction of Westminster.
1) That God would bless their fundraising efforts in the US.
2) That God would work out the details as Amanda and I consider coming back to serve as construction manager for WTCS. Thanks!

Holiday Reflections from Mom and Dad Drissell

Mom (Teresa Drissell) Says….
Our trip to Africa was quite stretching for me personally. Admittedly, ashamedly I am prone to anxiety on long plane flights. I have a hard time of settling on a plane. It seems that with all the unknowns ahead for me (and at times even with some of the knowns) I often feel way out of my comfort zone in such circumstances, out of control. The truth of the matter is I am not in control of anything, only God is. So since I really don't enjoy flying on planes for long periods of time, and the thought of flying to Africa and being on a plane for almost 19 hours seemed awfully long to me, I would quite naturally have avoided such a journey. Truth be known I would have dreaded it, and had it not been for two very special anticipatory individuals at the other end of the world (that I longed to see,) every excuse in the book could have been found so as not to go and I would have missed out on an adventure of a lifetime! Actually, I have even thought that a long flight like that would be the very thing that would keep me from ever wanting or believing that I could be used of God to do any kind of short term missionary work, much less to be used of God in mission work as a missionary serving in a far away country. I used to think, "I'll do the supporting of the missionaries, but not the going!" The reason, I can not sleep or relax on a plane without some medical assistance and sleep is a must if one is going to enjoy the people and the experiences of another land. But, our African "holiday," praise God, commenced with rest and relaxation and blessed sleep en route! Those precious gifts came through personal prayer and the prayers of others, and admittedly a little medical aid. Thankfully too, the Lord imparted peace to this anxious loved one, assuring me that we were under His loving watchful eye and care.

Today I am missing Africa. It is winter and cold here in Missouri. There is a chance of snow tomorrow 2-5 inches! It was such a sweet and at times challenging experience to be with Amanda and David in a third world country. I even am missing the some of those adventures we endured (i.e. being stuck in the mud several times) en route to, in, and from the Masai Mara. At times it seemed as if we were in an Indiana Jones adventure! We have been back in the states for a little over a week now and our Missouri ice storm and power outages have reminded me of what we left behind in warm, temperate, sunny and at times rainy Africa. I miss the fresh produce, the beans and rice, the fruit, and the delicious dinners prepared for us. Many of them were at the mercy of our chef’s palate and skill, and not necessarily on our preferred hunger time schedule on the Masai Mara. I miss the affordable menu prices and the numerous cuisines we tasted at the restaurants outside Kampala- Italian, Mediterranean and French. I miss Amanda's breakfast muffins and David's egg sandwich and the daily passion juice at eMi. In Africa, we learned to be content in whatever circumstance we found ourselves, even if it required some tonic water to settle ones stomach! David and I both lost over five pounds while we were there.



Africa was glorious and beautiful- amidst poverty and clay dust, sickness and disease, cloud bursts and sunshine, mud roads, and enormous pot holes, roaming wild animals, and washed out bridges. Even camping in a tent seemed a novel experience considering the fact that many of the wild creatures were within a short drive from our campsite! We rested knowing that the Masai warriors were guarding our campsite at night under God's heaven. Additionally, we count ourselves among the privileged to have been able to worship in two totally unique urban settings. We were grateful to have been a part of worship in music that praises our mutual God. Whether it was in African-Swahili or in English many of the tunes were familiar and we sang along. As a visible witness and participant in worship it was obvious that these people were loving God with their hearts. Gratitude and praise is a universal act of worship whether in Africa or in the US, but these were truly grateful people! Our first house of worship was in the Kibera slum ( a Presbyterian Church that our church in STL sends teams to) crammed in the midst of dung/ mud houses with tin roofs and dirt floors.





These people know what it means to depend on the LORD materially. They know of His goodness, and they have tasted of evil. Unless God comes through for these people, they have no hope of ever recovering their health much less their dignity. And God is coming through! He is using Imbumi Makuku and others to share His love with these precious children in some very special ways . . .



We also worshiped at New City Bible Church. It was equally heartwarming and enlightening. Dr. David Eby's message on "Seeking first the kingdom" . . . and "Blessed are the poor in spirit" was a reminder of the great wealth these people have. They most certainly have known poverty of spirit. It took everything in me not to bawl my eyes out as we and they sang about God's grace. We fell in love with the Eby's and knew without a doubt of God's commissioning them to serve the people of Africa. The Ugandans love them and call them "Mom" and "Dad." Please pray for the Emma at Westminster Bible College and the Eby's desire that a seminary be built in Africa for the native people there and that those funds may come in by March of 2007!

Our drive from Kenya to Uganda gave us such beautiful panoramic visuals. There were fields of lush thick green vegetation and flowers on vines above as well as the ground below, There were breath taking scenic and rolling hills alongside of profusely growing coffee beans and tea leaves and harvesters in the fields. In both of the cities that we visited the people of Africa appeared to be neatly dressed and well groomed considering the conditions that many of them are living in- clay dust and dirt for their yards! Their individual dressing seemed to me to be expressive (through their array of colors) of life, and hope. Amazingly it did not seem to be indicative of a spirit of oppression or depression which one might think appropriate for such poverty and sickness. Material wealth is possessed by very few in Africa. Their colors in dressing were displayed with very bright, alive and vibrant primary and secondary colors. It seemed to me that the vast majority of the women there wear skirts and/or dresses. I loved that! And I loved my boda-boda ride. (That’s right~ Both Dave & Teresa rode a motorcycle!)



Asanti-Sana (Thank you in Swahili, the main language in Kenya) Amanda and David! Thank you so much for giving us an experience of our loves! Thank you for introducing us to God's people in Africa. Thank you Lord, you do indeed have the whole world in your hands! We miss Africa and we miss you guys!
Much Love,
Mom (Teresa)

Dad (Dave Drissell) says…


I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Africa to visit Amanda & David. The long flight went better than I anticipated. I found the people of Kenya & Uganda to be very friendly, especially the children. They all love to wave & smile at you, especially when you wave to them. They seem to really appreciate the work that many "whites" or "muzungus" as they call us, are doing in their countries. I enjoyed meeting the American & African friends that surround Amanda & David. We visited & dined & attended church with them. They are very dedicated & loving people committed to serving the Lord by using their gifts & skills to help those in need. I can now appreciate even more the calling that David has to help use his talents for the EMI ministry & for Amanda to teach in Uganda.

To be with Amanda & David on their "Holiday" was great. I loved the safari. Seeing the animals & beautiful country was special but to enjoy it in the mud was even better! Meeting & visiting with our 4 European safari companions was a fun learning experience also.



Sure there were some stressful times during our trip, but David & Amanda were very good at handling the situations. Being familiar with the local customs & terms and with David's ability to make the Africans laugh kept me at ease. I returned with a greater appreciation for all the comforts that we take for granted here in the United States and a greater appreciation for the natural beauty of East Africa that I only saw in books & magazines before this trip. It was a wonderful experience and with our 500+ pictures - I'll never forget!
~Dad (aka Dave D)