What We Missionaries Do

We have met several other missionaries during our time here in Uganda.  One thing is very noticeable.  There are many, many types of missionaries.  If there is stereotype of a missionary to Africa, it’s probably man (or family) deep in the African bush (or jungle) doing evangelism and starting a church.  I have met a few of those, but the majority of us do something else.  Here is a short list of missionaries we have met.

• Sets up solar-powered FM radio stations in remote areas to broadcast audio Bible
• Runs an orphanage
• Runs a mobile medical clinic
• Manages a house with 15 street kids.  Lots of discipleship.
• Runs a Christian elementary school.
• Spouse writes school curriculum that may eventually be adopted nationwide
• Veterinarian (education & lots of cattle, goats, & chicken to keep healthy)
• Accountant for a large Christian organization.
• Also teaches accounting principles to church leaders.
• Coaches young Christian men on business development
• Bible teacher to several villages & leads conferences
• Helps with software to help Bible translators
• Coaches churches on worship ministry
• Coaches churches on children’s ministry

What missionaries do is diverse.

What things has God gifted you with?

And have you prayed about using those gifts for Him near home or on a foreign mission field?

From Kampala,

John Eastham

New Missionary to Uganda

Paying Attention When It Counts.

A Letter from Uganda.

This past week I saw part Uganda’s national news broadcast.  The news article focused on how parliament was presented the country’s annual budget.  Yes, Uganda TV showed all the pomp and circumstance.  Soldiers dressed in their smart dress uniforms marched in perfect formation.  The country’s top judges walked into parliament with their colorful gowns and white wigs.  The president stood at a table surrounded by other politically powerful men.  This was a very stately affair.

Then came another news article about the country’s annual budget.  This article was called something like, “The lighter side of the budget presentation.”  One video clip showed a politician standing for the national anthem.  The video shot began at this politician’s head and ended down at his feet, revealing that he had taken off his shoes.  This suggested that this politician had a casual attitude about the event.

This news article continued with several other camera shots of senior government ministers and members of parliament (MPs) who had dozed off during the presentation.

Ugandans all around me roared with laughter upon seeing their leaders caught on video asleep during an important state event.  These leaders should have been awake and attentive.  The next day, photos of the sleeping politicians adorned the front page of a national newspaper.  How embarrassing!

I found out later that several MPs also fell asleep at the president’s State of the Nation address two days earlier.  Twice in one week.  Not good.

But this is a lesson for all of us.  Does your mind wonder off during a church sermon?  Do your eyes grow heavy, and then you quietly nod-off?  Or do you really focus on the sermon’s content and challenge yourself to following Jesus?

What about listening to your spouse or children when they speak?  Are you really listening to them?

Ugandan government ministers and MPs were caught asleep at two national events.  As for you and me, let’s pay attention when it’s important.

John Eastham,

New Missionary to Uganda

Running Water. Something We Used to Take for Granted.

A Letter from Uganda

Lily and I went on several short-term mission trips before we headed off to Uganda.  Each time we returned home from a trip, we always had a deeper appreciation for what we had in our home.

But long-term missions are different.  We are now appreciative of several things that we used to take for granted in the States, like running water.

Water for our house comes from Uganda's National Water Corporation.  Everyone has a water tank in Uganda since there is the occasional day where National Water does not pump.

Our Water Tank

One day, Lily ran several loads of laundry.  What she didn’t know was that our guard had watered our vegetable garden to make sure the newly-planted seeds would grow.  What nobody knew was that the National Water was not pumping to our neighbourhood that day.  We had depleted our tank water by 11am, and National Water was not pumping water to refill it.  There was now no water for dishes, washing hands, or flushing the toilet.

Uh oh.  It's empty.

We dealt with it in stride.  Lily left the soiled lunch dishes for later.  That evening we went shopping, had dinner at a local Greek restaurant, and used the restrooms at both places.  We sent the kids to bed without a bath.  Nobody complained.

My guard called me at 10:30pm telling me the water was back.  Lily and I took our showers, delighted to retire to bed feeling clean.

But that was only our first day without water.  The next week we ran out of water again and again.  Lily and the kids now had the routine down:  no washing dishes, use the toilet (but don't flush), and wash hands with hand wipes.

Another missionary family (Brian & Jill Kanyike) live up on Naguru Hill.  National Water had not pumped to their house for an entire week.  Wow!  We had it good in comparison!

Lily now has some paper plates and plastic utensils.  She usually only washes one load of clothes a day.  We may store water in the garage to flush the toilets, and I may get a second water tank.  Whatever we do, we now appreciate something that we used to take for granted, running water.

From Kampala,

John Eastham

New Missionary to Uganda

Living in Africa -- Doing Everthing A Little Different #1

1We just got our clothes washer installed, and we were ecstatic to do our first load of laundry.  I had also just installed our clothes line outside.  We were thankful that the clothes were completely dried after only two hours.  I folded the clothes and put them in the clothes dresser.  Then I realized my mistake.

Most everything I do in Uganda is at least a little different than how I would do things in US.  Failure to do things the "African way" can have very bad consequences.

My mistake was failing to iron the clothes, even the underwear, before putting them away.  Why?  Ugandans call it the "mango fly"  although it's more properly called Tumbu Fly.  Suffice it to say that this fly lays its eggs in wet clothes as they're drying outside.  Days later, the eggs hatch, and the fly larvae do something nasty to your skin.  I'll spare you the details.  For those with a stronger stomach, you can read about the Tumbu Fly on Wikipedia or this medical journal case report.

This is just one African activity of daily living that we are adjusting to.  In a few days I'll tell you about something else that's causing me to get pulled over by the traffic police.

John Eastham

New Missionary to Uganda

How to get a PO Box in Uganda - In Four Easy Steps.

There is no residential mail delivery in Uganda, so everyone has a PO Box.  Getting a PO box is easier said than done.  Here is my experience.

Trip #1 to the post office.  Posta Uganda’s Kampala office is located in the heart of downtown Kampala.  That area is typically jammed with traffic, so getting there is difficult at best.  In trying to get to Kampala’s post office, I unknowingly made an illegal U-turn.  There was no sign indicating that it was actually illegal, but that didn't matter.  I was pulled over by the traffic police who first gave me the opportunity to pay him bribe or receive a citation.  That policeman turned me over to his supervisor who gave me a stern lecture.  After some quick prayer, I got way without paying a bribe or receiving a citation.  Whew!

 

But after that came the difficulty of finding a parking space.  The traffic was intense, but we finally found an open spot.  Too bad it was parallel parking on a steep incline.  Suffice it to say, the locals got some entertainment at my expense.  After all that, I got into the Posta Uganda office and found the correct line.  I expected that we could just walk into the post office and get a PO Box the same day.  How naïve we were.  The postal worker handed me the application form and highlighted the requirements for two copies of my ID, three passport-size photos, and the signature someone who already had a PO Box (as a reference for good character, perhaps?).

Trip #2 to the post office.  We acquired some passport-size photos and other application requirements.  Remembering my previous driving and parking experiences, I took a taxi.  In the post office I presented the paperwork to the clerk.  We could get the PO box today, right?  No, naïve again.  The postal worker told me to return the next day after 10am.

Trip #3 to the post office.  The rain was heavy, and we got stuck in a traffic jam a few blocks from the post office.  After about 20 minutes of being at a standstill, I decided to walk even though the rain was bad.  Almost all the Ugandans had the sense to stay dry under awnings.  I just wanted my PO box, and getting soaked was not that important.  Lily and the kids waited in the car (and for traffic to move again).  I thought I knew where the post office was.  I was wrong, and I was now lost in downtown Kampala.  Thankfully, I found the church (it's on William Street), and climbed up to its offices on the fourth floor.  One of the church workers walked me over to Posta Uganda, and I was grateful for his help.  The postal worker took my money and issued me my PO box number.  Hurray!  After three trips to the post office I was done.  Right?  No, naïve again.  The postal worker said I’d have to come back in 3 weeks to receive the key to my PO box.

Trip #4 to the post office looks to be fruitful and the end of this PO box ordeal.  Of course, that may be naïve.

Learning how to live here and adapt,

John Eastham,  new (and naive) missionary to Uganda

Duplicates.

Recently, Lily was shopping for padlocks.  For various reasons, we were interested in buying the Solex brand of locks.  The store worker presented Lily with two identically appearing Solex locks in almost identical packaging.  One was $6 and the other was $20.  Living in Uganda is expensive, so only spending only $6 on a padlock is very attractive.  Buy the one with the low, attractive price, right?  That would be wrong.

"Duplicate" is the word Ugandans use for "counterfeit."  For everything sold here, there's probably a "duplicate."  Counterfeit light bulbs, car parts, car safety belts, padlocks, you name it.

Thankfully, Lily and I already knew how to discern between counterfeit and genuine Solex locks (you have to inspect them carefully; http://www.solex.com.my/fakevsreal/).  The differences are subtle, but the implications are huge.  If you want a padlock, you want one that's sure to work, right?  Lily paid the higher price of $20 and walked out with the genuine product.  We now have a Solex lock that is sure to work.

In Uganda, there are plenty of counterfeit churches.  There are Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses.  There are also many churches that teach Biblical unsound doctrine that focus on money or deliverance from demons.

There is a lesson for us.  Is there anything in our culture that looks attractive and "Christian" but is actually unbiblical?  It should not be that difficult to find something.  Is what you hear at church actually Biblical or the pastor's opinion?  The only way to identify counterfeit Biblical teaching is to spend time around the real thing.

Paul wrote "All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  "All" means "everything."  With Bible teaching, you only want the genuine.

Rental Houses and Land Brokers. Caveat Emptor.

We have been in Uganda for almost a month now.  This blog post continues in a theme of our settling and adapting to life here.

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Now that we have found a rental house, there is some time for me to reflect on our experiences of looking at houses.  In Uganda, “land brokers” take you to the available houses and then introduce you to the landowner.

I’ve asked several Ugandan friends about land brokers.  Suffice it to say that brokers are loathed for their lack of ethics, dishonesty, and corruption.  Brokers said to only focus on making their commissions as large as possible.  My own experience has been similar.

Our first broker was very professional.  My mistake was telling him our actual budget.  After finding a house that met our needs, the broker told the owner our budget amount.  From that point forward we were unable to negotiate a lower monthly payment than what I had told the broker.  The broker was sure that we would take that house.  If we negotiated a lower monthly payment, that would mean a lower commission for him.

During the tour of another promising house, I asked the broker where the nearest mosque was.  He said it was far away, and that we could definitely not hear the pre-dawn (5 am) call to worship.  He must have meant, “You won’t we woken up if you have all the windows shut and have a fan blowing in your ear.”  About two minutes later we all heard the afternoon call blaring from the mosque’s loudspeakers.  I realized I could not rely on the broker for accurate information.  Caveat emptor ("Let the buyer beware").

Our second broker was from a very reputable company.  They even had a nicely organized website, and the homepage featured a nice house that matched our budget.  After we began discussions with the landlady, we realized that the monthly rent quoted on the broker’s homepage was an outright lie.  He had listed the monthly rent as 20% lower than what the landlady was asking.  I was alarmed at the wanton dishonesty.  Later a friend told us, “All the brokers do that.”

We are needed here.  Romans 10:16-17 reads, “But they have not all obeyed the gospel.  For Isaiah says, "LORD, who has believed our report?"  So then faith [comes] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  We are here because the word of God needs to be spoken.

John Eastham,

New Missionary to Uganda

We signed a rental agreement, and we hope to move into the house in a few days!

The house fits out needs. It’s a 3 Bedroom, 2 ½  bath, two story house with a nice yard and vegetable garden.  We estimate it to be about 1200 sq feet.

Bunga House

Kitchen (stove and fridge will go on the right)

It’s located about 30 min. south of downtown.  It’s a quiet community (called Bunga) off of Gaba Here’s a hyperlink to a Google map.

The plot is to the upper left of the marker.  There are two houses on the plot.  The smaller house is the “boy’s quarters.”  We may use that for homeschooling later.

The landlady is a project manager at one of the major banks here in Uganda.

Thank you for praying for us – we have been receiving a lot of favor from her.  She also liked how well the kids behaved. 

There are a few things that need to be done before we move in.  These are generally security-related, such as adding razor wire along one wall.

We still need to find a day and night guards and guard dog.

Guards are essential before we can move in. 

Please pray that the LORD would give us wisdom about and provide us with honest guards.