Fourth of July and Ugandan Thanksgiving.

       Wednesday last week was Fourth of July as everybody knows, and all the Americans gathered at the Andersons to celebrate. Most of the afternoon until supper we played dodgeball. It was fun playing against Jensen, Jerimiah, and a friend of their's, who were a few years older than me, because I would catch most balls that they threw. Anyways, playing dodgeball was fun, and after we had dinner, and a bonfire, everyone went home.
       We are having Mwine over here most of the time this month, and his is a fun guy (Haven't I already called him that before?). Anyways, it is fun having him here, and he will be with us until we leave. He is actually sitting in the living room as I type.
       Saturday the 7th was New Hope Ugandan Thanksgiving, and my Dad was in charge of it all, so it was a bit stressful for him. Especially since the first Lady of Uganda (the President's wife) came for it. Thanksgiving started at around 10:30, and the First Lady arrived at about 12:30. Her and some of the people who came with her spoke. After lunch, which was at about 2:30, everybody was dismissed.
       Two weeks from today and we will be heading to Kampala. Then two days after that we will be flying!! Time is flying, and soon we will be leaving Uganda for the rest of the year. Can't wait to see you all! Thank you for your prayers and support. There is nothing important happening except that we are going back to America very soon. Please pray for that, packing and planning and stuff will take a while! Thank you all again!

                                             Micah            
                                                  Peterson.

Friends.

       Nothing special has happened lately except that some friends from the States have come to visit us. They arrived on Friday and right now are on the way to Mukono as I speak. They brought some stuff for us, some that we ordered, some that they got for us.

Wednesday we had two Ebenezer girls over for their birthdays. On Thursday night we had John over because he was sick and they had bedbugs down in the family. So he was he was here that night and the next. We also had another Ebenezer girl over because she was also very sick. 

On Friday morning my Dad went to get John Kelley(My Dad’s best friend and father of my best friend), Don Couchman(Our Dentist), and Don’s Grandson, Nate. Larry, someone we’d never met before, who knew Don, came the next day. We had dinner with them that night, then came back to sleep. Saturday morning after breakfast we went to get them and give them a tour around Kasana. We had Lunch and Dinner that day with them also.

Sunday morning we drove over and walked with them from the Guesthouse to church. After Church we had Lunch with them and then I went to Toby Britton’s birthday party. There was a lot of sugar in it. Saltwater Taffys, Marshmallows, Cake… It didn’t get me Hyper though, luckily. That night we brought Ebenezer over to the Guesthouse to celebrate American Father’s day and Kara’s birthday with our friends with a feast. We had a fun time.

Today my parents took our friends down to Mukono to do something down there for a couple days. They will head back to America once they’re finished there. They left at about 8:00 and it is 2:30 now. They should be back in about 40 minutes.

Thank you all for your prayers once again. We appreciate them very much. Also your support. Please keep praying for our Furlough. We still don’t know the exact date we are going. We have a lot to do. Please keep praying for that and other Future things. Thanks again!

Micah

      Peterson.

One month to Furlough!

                                      (written on the 12th)

So our plans have changed. We are not going for furlough next year anymore, but we are now going in a month. Crazy! Just thinking about going back to America in only one month after planning for next year makes my head swim! Can’t wait to see good friends though!

We will be on our usual schedule until we go next month. Doing school, going to the family group on Tuesdays (like today), going to the family gardens on most Saturdays, going to church, etc. We did a few special things the past few days.

On Saturday we went down to the family group and slashed around the compound for a while then came back. Then that evening there was a basketball party for the basketball teams and each person could invite 2 people. Since there was a lot of players from Ebenezer, almost all the family came from being invited. There was a banquet(small one), a slideshow with a few clips of the Regional and National tournaments, then they gave certificates for playing in the nationals to the teams.

Sunday we had Ebenezer over for pancakes, and my Dad called it our own I-Hop(International House of Pancakes). After Church we had them at around 4:00 for a football game then a basketball game. We had fun both times, and everyone’s getting better at basketball.

Tonight we will be going to Ebenezer(of course). Tomorrow night we will be having a few of the girls over for their birthday. Today, if it doesn’t start raining to hard, I will be heading over to see how Toby is doing. He has been terribly sick lately, but it sounds as if he is better now.

Thank you all for your prayers and support, we appreciate it very much. Please pray for next month, as we have much to plan before we go. Please pray for other things also. As I said, it is raining right now, and I think our cistern is pretty much full. Thanks again for everything!

Micah 

    Peterson.

        We are settling back into our pattern for a couple weeks. We just got back from the Staff Retreat (just western staff) in Kingfisher. Kingfisher, an area that is basically a hotel with big spaces, is located in Jinja. Did I mention it has a pool?

There are different sessions in which they talk about different stuff. Some of them older kids have to go to, but some we don’t. On the way to Jinja on Wednesday the 30th we switched Toby Britton with Kara. So Toby came with us, and Kara went with the Brittons. We went to The Keep for lunch, and Kara came with some other people. Toby was staying with us even though his family was eating at Kingfisher.

We swam a bit that afternoon and then went to a session. Everyone was supposed to be there until little kids and big ones that were helping were released. Then the next day, Thursday the 31st, we had two morning sessions that older ones had to be at. But one I didn’t have to go to. That afternoon we also swam.

On Friday the 1st there were no sessions the older ones had to go to. So we swam most of the day. At 4:00 Toby, the Mitchells, Elisha McFarland, Noah McFarland and I went on a Boat ride down a little bit of the Nile until 5:00. Then everyone went to Two Friends for dinner.

On Saturday the 2nd many people left except the Vogts, the McFarlands, the Sparks, and us. Mwine came in the morning and we went on another boat ride. We also went to Two Friends for Dinner. The next day, Sunday the 3rd, we left after breakfast. We got to Kampala before lunch, shopped a bit, went and ate lunch, then went to the Theaters. I don’t know if you’ve seen Avengers, but I think IT IS FULLY AWESOME!!!!! Cause that’s what we watched. Love it! Then after the movie we dropped Mwine off and started home.

Thank you all for your prayers, we really appreciate them. Thanks also for your support. We are doing very well, but my Mom is a bit sick. Please pray for that and other things. Thank you all again!

Micah

    Peterson.

National Tournament Report

   Kara here.
   Sorry it's been so long! Things have been crazy around here. I don't think I've posted more than one blog this year. First Kobwin, then basketball tournament prep, regionals, more basketball prep, national tournament, EYO camp. I want to focus more on the national tournament and EYO camp.

    I'm writing this (or rather beginning to write this) on Sunday May 6th. (Just now editing it on the 23rd!) The national Ugandan basketball tournament was the last week of April. EYO camp, just this past week. Now, I was somewhat excited for the basketball tournament. I looked forward to spending time with friends and actually playing... Playing! In a National Tournament. But I was nervous. These were girls that have been playing for years and years, and here I was, a girl who had been to a one week basketball camp at six years old, bounced around a ball here and there, and only started to play seriously a year ago. What was to become of me?
    Well, the night before we left, we went to bed around ten, then woke up at 5:30. Seven hours. This is important. It was a long nine hour drive from here to Fort Portal. My legs were cramped, I was holding a bag on my lap the whole time in the hot coaster, making my legs sweat. At least I was seated by my amazing sister Peace. I love Peace. She's awesome. So we got to Fort Portal and started settling in. At first we were told the girls would be eating, sleeping, and playing in a different place. Everyone was like, "WHAT?!" I think all the girls (including me) were super disappointed about that. Thankfully, we ended up playing and eating break and lunch there.
    The dormitories where the girls slept were horrible! People didn't care about keeping the latrines clean so some girls began using the ground right outside the latrine rather than the latrine itself. The official bathing place was four tin 'walls' that were about four feet high, so instead of bathing there the girls bathed right outside the dorm rooms (the dorms were separate 'cabins', each about fifteen to twenty feet away from each other). We shared our rooms with two or three other teams, football and basketball both. The first night I slept with them I got about four hours of sleep. Girls' phones would ring at about midnight to two in the morning. Whenever I turned over in my bed the springs would squeak. The light didn't get turned off until two in the morning. The mosquitos were bothering me. I was miserable. The lines throughout the week for food were bad. Two girls that I saw had refused to listen to authority to make a straight line and/or move into or from it. They were beaten by an askari (security).
    An askari is basically a guard. We have askaris here on NHU, they patrol the place and rotate being our gatekeepers. Anyway, there were other girls who got in fights with each other and askaris. It wasn't the greatest place to be. I spent two nights with the girls, the second night I got about six hours of sleep. Better bed. Lights off earlier. Two others I spent in a guest house (hotel) with my family. Good beds, good bathrooms, good old mosquito nets, amazing breakfasts...
    But enough about the accomidation. I'm sure you want to know about the actual tournament. Truth to be told, I had fun. For most of the day, I preferred to hang out in the coaster and read a book. I'm not the kind of person who likes to make friends. It's hard for me. But I did meet a few people, who received my 'contact' by the end of the week. Those were Shila (Sheila), Asher, Sharron, Lillian, Rita and Brenda. We played three games that week, the first game we played was against one of the teams that had reached the top eight the year before. Gosh those girls were good. I was getting so frustrated with their hands on team (by that I mean they were constantly touching us, grabbing our arms and jerseys) and the fact that we couldn't make any shots I was in tears by the end of the first quarter. But after crying out to God and receiving His grace, by the end of the game I was able to congratulate the winning team without resentment. Thank you Jesus! And surprise surprise, most of them asked my name and invited me over to their coaster to 'hang out' for a little bit. ?  Once there, they actually asked me if I wanted to join their school the next year. Ding ding, translation! Meaning, "how about playing for our team next year?" Ok. Hold on a second. Do you mean you are inviting someone from a loosing team, 4 - 48 who didn't get one shot but only dribbled the ball down the court making it past their defenses once? Or twice, I don't even remember now. Heh, but that was a surprise. The boys team played the same school and lost, less miserably than the girls did.
    Second day we had no games, it was a pretty boring day. The boys played one game (which they lost) and went to tour the Toro Kingdom Palace. The girls had to stay behind, just in case our game was next. We ended up playing it the next day, so we were bored. We interacted with some people. Actually, I was getting tired. Physically, yes, but also socially. I'm not used to interacting with a huge crowd of people I don't know, having strangers saying "Hi Kara!" It's kind of weird, made me feel almost like a celebrity or something. Now I know what they feel like. During devotions the morning after, I shared Hebrews 12:1-3. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles..." Looking back, I can think of the 'sin that so easily entangles' as frustration, anger, hate towards the teams that beat us. I personally, didn't feel and hate, but that first game we played I was getting very frustrated and angry. So that verse caught my attention, now here's the rest of it. "...and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." Wow. So even if I'm getting socially tired, even spiritually, if we fix our eyes on Jesus and persevere the road He has set before us, He will perfect our faith, he will renew it, make it strong! "...who, for the Joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hello God. The boys just lost two games, we have lost one and were about to play two more that afternoon. He is going to keep us going if we 1. Fix our eyes on Him 2. Consider the pain, opposition and shame Jesus endured to bring us life in order that we "not grow weary and loose heart"!
    So now, we go out and face the next two giants. Squash. Yep, you guessed it. We died. Actually, we could have beaten both teams if we would have made more shots, but there were no nets and the backboards were funny. In the second game, if I would have made two more lay ups and two more free shots, we could have won. But, I think the best thing was that we girls were so joyful after the game. We didn't win, yet we were happy! ??? Why? People actually thought we had won our games because we were so happy. Why? We got joy joy joy joy down in our hearts... Down in our hearts... Down in our hearts, we got the joy joy joy joy down in our hearts, down in our hearts to stay!!!! ......... Sorry. Oh! And at the end of our last game, Grace (who is our team leader), our Dad and I all got interviewed by a guy from the FUBA (Federal Ugandan Basketball Association). He asked me (in not so many words), what is it like to be the only caucasian on the team? I told him they all treat me like we're sisters, and we are sisters, in Christ that is. It's funny, because people noticed how much we are like family. A guy from another team asked Peace why we don't treat other guys like we treat our boys. Peace told him it's because our guys are brothers, rather than strangers/newly made friends. I actually had one guy ask me my number. I was so surprised because I had just met him, and because of the way he asked, I just said we'll see. After he left I smacked myself on the head. Stupid stupid stupid. At least I could have told him I don't have a phone and that if he wanted my dad's number he could take it. Sometimes, I just fail miserably at social interaction. Thankfully he didn't come back. Maybe the fact that I got teased by most of our boys confused him so that he thought I already had a 'boyfriend'. I hope that's not the impression I made. They are all great friends and brothers. Nothing of the romantic sort.
    The boys played their last game and won, but didn't make the qualifying round by one point. Saturday, we went to a place that had a pool, sauna and steam room. Oh the sauna was heavenly! It was a cold rainy day in a cold pool. Getting out after my lips turned blue and running to the sauna was amazing... Anyway. We stayed in a different place that night, a hostel. Y.E.S Hostel, Youth Encouragement Services. They had a ping pong table, a badminton net, connect four and cards on computers, Brevin brought his computer and we watched movie clips, then went to sleep on amazingly comfortable beds. And that was the end of our week- oh no. Not yet. I almost forgot (how could I?!). About an hour our of Fort Portal, the coaster broke down. The brakes broke. Big time uh oh. Thankfully, we stopped right under a tree (a nice one to climb, we were still wearing pants). In just about a half an hour, a huge public bus came by. I wanted to go along with everyone, but I had to go in the car with my mom and Tiff and Tal. And Brevin and our obnoxious little brothers. :P Yep. I was bored. At least I had plenty of gonja (thanks mom!). Gonja are a type of bananas. The ones they sell along the road are roasted, and when eating them hot they're super good! Love those things. They're my favorite traveling snack. Anyway, we got home safely, and total that week I got about 45 hours of sleep. Just wait for my next post, the EYO camp. I get even less sleep then.


                                 Kara

           1 Corinthians 10:31- "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Birthday again.

                                     (Written on the 21st)

We have gotten back into the rhythm of things. Doing school, having the family group over, going to church, Etc. On Friday night we went down to the family meeting at Ebenezer for something important. We had known what this important thing was before, but the family didn’t. It was that the Ebenezer Family parents were going back to Jinja and someone else would take their place. Please pray for that, because I know that when they leave many of Ebenezer will be sad.

On Saturday my Mom and Dad went to Kampala to get rims for the car. Kara and I spent the day here on Secondary until the came back, and Toby Britton came about a half hour before they got home. You see, Toby was having a sleepover here at my house. So he came at about 4:30, we played DS until about a half hour before supper, (Acacia Britton was having a sleepover with Kara that night too, but she came later just before MacGyver) and watched a MacGyver before and during supper.

Then after supper Ebenezer came and we all watched the rest of Matthew. We had fun. Then after that Ebenezer left, we watched another MacGyver, Toby and I played some more DS then went to bed. The next morning Toby had to leave early after breakfast, but Acacia, Kara and I play DS for a while. Then we went to Church.

Last night we had the Brittons over for supper and us kids went out and play outside for a while after a VERY good supper. We had lots of fun as we played in the dark and then came in and danced to music until they left. Today I am going over to the Brittons again to play with Toby. As soon as i’m done with this, of course.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. We all appreciate it very much. Thank you all for your prayers, it has been raining a lot lately again. Please keep praying for the kids in the Family group, as they struggle with the Family parents leaving. Please also pray for Future things, such as dry seasons and anything else you think of.

Micah

      Peterson

Back home.

(Written on the 14th)

So we got back from the National Basketball Tournament a little over two weeks ago. We had a lot of fun. When we got there after a 9 hour trip we dropped the Boys’ (team) stuff off, cause they were staying where the actual games were taking place, and went to where the Girls were staying. After all this we went to our (us and the Anderson family) Hotel.

The next day (Tuesday) was both of the teams’ first game. Both teams lost these games. Then the Boys played the next day (Wednesday), lost, didn’t play the next day (Thursday), played the next day (Friday), and won. The Girls played twice on Thursday, and lost both.

But the Girls and Boys were joyful after each loss and win, and everybody noticed it. Many people commented on it, saying they were different in their attitude after losing. They also made new friends, including ones that were on the opposite team.

So after two weeks of no school, we started again a week ago. We also had Ebenezer over to watch a movie that acts out Matthew.

Thank you all for you prayers and support. We are very grateful for it. It has been raining a lot lately again. Our cistern is filling up and the rain is once again slowing down. Please pray for future things.

Micah

      Peterson.