it's official...im in love.

sorry mom and dad. im not coming back. :)
its been a few days...time for an update! right? right. okay.
sooooo....let's see. saturday was kind of a fun day with the missionary family. i went with kenneth and delight, and their daughter emily to the equator. yup yup....that was pretty cool. i stood on the line and was in both the northern and southern hemispheres at the same time. later that night one of the other missionaries on the field (lisa fish!) came over to the hopsons and we had dinner with her. that was a real hoot. hahahaha.

sunday was really great. we went to a church called Bukasa Wakiso and I met Pastor Miria. The service was held in a school building and we sat at bench-style desks. They do not have a sound system, but it was not needed. It was beautiful with the men and women up there singing. Off to the side a couple of guys were playing the drums (with the help of an adorable baby girl who had wandered over there at one point during the service). They also have shakers made out of aluminum cans. The church service was about three hours long but did not really seem that long. The people at the church know the Hopsons and they asked Kenneth to get up and say a few words. He then introduced me and asked if I wanted to say anything. I was like, "okay..." hahahaha. So I just introduced myself and told them how happy I was to be there (which I was!). At both of the churches we have been at, they invite anyone to come up and share, so I guess it was not anything out of the ordinary. They also invited anyone who wanted to, to come up and share a song...that was something I definitely did not do! There were a couple of young women who got up and sang. There was also a group of three school-aged boys who shared a song with the church. They were singing and dancing and it was just so so so great.

yesterday i went to the bank with the field accountant...and lets just say that was quite the experience. we were in like two or three different lines and then this closed room where they had to count out all this money for us. i held 30 million shillings in my lap. woooohooo. (about 15,000 US dollars). on monday evening i went with delight to Kampala International University. the team went there last week and they continued their discussion on relationships and marriage. it was interesting to hear some of the cultural differences in regards to such things. the culture here is a lot more conservative than back home. after bible study we went to the supermarket to get groceries for Mama Mary because I got to go back there today!!!!

While the team was here they left some money to donate and we got quite a bit of groceries (I took a picture so you girls could see, but loading pictures on this takes forever!)...and then there was still some leftover, so Mama Mary will be able to use that as she sees fit. a student from kiu (the university) came and picked me up this morning and we drove to the children's home. his name was Emmanuel, and it was fun talking to him on the way there and back. he is studying business and finance...or something like that. i don't remember the official name of his "course" (major). he is from kenya, and has one year left of school. i told him about sledding during the winter, and im pretty sure he thought i was crazy. he also commented that it sounds a little dangerous.

when i got to mama mary's, there was a pretty big group of people there. they had come from two different churches in north carolina, and were working at mama mary's for the week. most of them were adults, but there were a couple of girls my age who i got to talk to. they were so great...they were painting a couple of the rooms, and had a bunch of games for the children to play with. and to my lovely teammates...a lot of them were asking where you guys were...and i told them how you had to go home. :( i got to see my basketball buddy james again...and leah if you are reading this...he wanted to know where you were, because the team was just incomplete without you. i remembered one of the soccer balls (woot. woot.) and they loved it! one of the guys from the north carolina group brought his guitar with him, and james got out his keyboard. he was really talented, and after listening to the guy play, james could just pick it up and join in. the two of them started jamming out, singing worship songs, and a bunch of us, went with the kids to listen and sing along. it is definitely one of my favorite events that has taken place...it was truly beautiful. to keep myself from crying just thinking about it...lets move on to something else. one of the other young men at the orphanage was doing a lot of the singing, and then he started dancing too. he tried to teach my how to "break dance" but im sure you all can imagine how well that went.
it was a great great day...i had been very much hoping and praying to go back to that children's home. growing impatient, really. and the opportunity opened up. praise God. a lot of the kids are just content to sit with you. we sat and watched the boys play soccer for some time. someone there made a comment about us being a blessing to these children, but really...i feel so blessed that i got to spend the day with them. joy that comes from Christ alone. aaaaaah. they make me smile.
okay whew. that was a lot of typing. and i am covered in dirt so i should probably go take care of that....i love you all!!!!!!!!!
kirsten.